One Winged l'Cie
by AbyssKeeper
Summary: Seph wants another chance. His mission? Help the l'Cie. Can the SOLDIER legend change or will he become the One Winged Angel again? Please Read and Review. Post-AC, during FF13.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own anything from FF7 and FF13**

~~~~Sephirtoth's **P**oint **O**f **V**iew~~~~

Three times we had crossed paths. Three times we had fought. Three times that blond kid emerged victorious. In the Nibleheim reactor, in the Northern Cave, and in the Midgar ruins. What made him better than me? I am supposed to be the most powerful being to ever exist.

I thought back to what he said the last time we fought 'There's not a thing I don't cherish.'

Is it possible that I have been wrong about my purpose? I, of all people, should have known that I would end up being defeated. I was the antagonist and Cloud was the protagonist of this story. I was destined to be defeated. However, I don't regret my actions, at all. Those are in the past and cannot be changed.

"If there is some kind of supreme being, please listen to my prayer," I could not believe that I was doing this, but I felt it was the correct thing to do "Give me a chance to begin again, a chance to redeem myself."

"Sephiroth," An angelic voice replied "Do you truly believe that you, a being that has caused untold suffering, can change?"

"Yes," I answered "Why else would I ask?"

"I shall answer your prayer," The beautiful voice continued "But, you will be stripped of your magic power and be given a companion."

"I can survive without my magical capabilities, but who is it that will be accompanying me?" I had a fairly confident assumption.

"The woman who fell victim to your blade," I was correct, I was going to be paired with Aerith, the half Cetra "You both shall awaken in a city known as Hanging Edge. From there you will go to, what is called, the Vestige, you'll know it when you see it. You shall join the one known as Lightning and help in their journey."

"Understood," I said, confirming the instructions and committing the key information to memory "How long until I awake?"

"Hey," A different voice sounded "Wake up, sleepyhead."

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

I opened my eyes and saw looked to be a warzone. I sat up and my hand brushed something metallic. I turned and saw my steel battle staff; it was really nothing more than a long steel rod with sharp ridges at one end.

I looked a bit further and saw a thin sword that looked to be about seven feet long, including the handle. Just beyond the unusual sword was the wielder of it. He was lying on his back with his silver hair fanned out underneath him.

I stood up, walked over to him and kneeled down next to him. I giggled at the familiarity of this situation. First Zack, my boyfriend, then Cloud, my bodyguard, and now Sephiroth, my killer. I dismissed the last thought as I remembered what he said while we were in the life stream.

That event was in the past and he didn't regret his action. It was understandable seeing as how he was a soldier his entire life. If he regretted taking a life then he would have broke down a long time before he became the Great General Sephiroth.

"Hey," I said as I saw his brow twitch "Wake up, sleepyhead." His eyes opened quickly, as if he was getting ready to fight. I noted the simple fact that he was given round pupils by the one who sent us here.

"Tell me truthfully," The former general said flatly "Do you greet everyone like this?"

I knew he had just made a joke, but his face said that he was completely serious.

"No," I replied with a giggle "Just important people." I then stood up and held out a hand to help him to his feet. He stared at my outstretched hand as if it was something that could prove threatening. He got to his feet without my assistance and picked up his sword.

I looked around the warzone-like area and 'found' the Vestige. I was about to point it out but I saw that Sephiroth was already trying to figure out how to get to our destination.

~~~~Sephirtoth's POV~~~~

_This is the perfect moment for my ability to fly or for something oddly convenient._ I thought as I saw that the Vestige was moving slowly through the air.

Two high pitched engines made me look up and I saw two things that looked like flying motorcycles. They landed near Aerith and I, and one man, in a strange looking suit, with a gun got off the machines. They aimed their guns at us and I lifted my sword, the Masamune, and pointed it at them.

There was open space about twenty feet wide between me and the enemies and with my SOLDIER enhancements I crossed the gap in less than three seconds. I decapitated the first enemy and pushed my sword into the others throat. He had managed to take a shot but it just glanced off my spaulder.

I then raised my right hand and waved for Aerith to catch up to me. I sat on the first machine and quickly figured out the controls. I made Aerith sit in front of me because I was nearly a foot and a half taller than she.

The machine lifted off the ground as soon as I activated it. I was steering the thing with my right hand while I held my sword outside the vehicle in my left. Aerith had her staff held close to her chest as I forced the small vehicle to its top speed.

We arrived at an entrance to the Vestige within minutes. A hallway is what greeted us, a long hallway with no doors on the side. It was more of a tunnel than hallway.

We soon came face to face with a large red shield. My first instinct was to slash the shield; my Masamune could cut through anything. Well, it could when I had my magic, which is a lesson I learned the hard way. The blade just bounced off the red shield and my wrist twisted awkwardly which made it crack, a small pain, nothing worth halting for.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

Me and the dark skinned man jumped off the mobile bridge and onto a road that was directly beside the Vestige. There was an opening in the side and we leapt from the road to the Vestige.

There was a small military vehicle inside the opening. I drew my weapon, Blaze Edge, and continued cautiously through the tunnel.

I lifted Blaze Edge into a defensive position when I heard rapidly approaching footsteps. I quickly glanced over my shoulder at the man who decided to follow me from Bodhum. The next thing I knew I was feeling cold steel against my throat.

**This is just some random idea of mine; the feed back I get will determine the fate of this story.**

**I know it's kind of short, but hey, this is the trial chapter.**

**If you like this idea, review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**It seems people like this idea. I guess I have to keep going now.**

**By the way, this is a low priority story. But it shouldn't be much longer.**

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

I stood in front of the shield and wondered how we were going to get past. I turned to Sephiroth who was deep in thought. His head was down, his eyes closed and he had his right hand on his chin.

His eyes shot open and he looked over his shoulder for some reason.

"Someone is approaching," He said before tuning and racing down the tunnel. I put my left hand on my hip and huffed.

I turned back to the mysterious shield with an idea. I placed my hand on it and silently asked for it to open so we could continue. I was surprised when the shield vanished.

"A point for me," I giggled as I went to go find the swordsman.

I rounded a corner and saw Sephiroth and a woman sizing each other up. I knew Sephiroth would win in a fight because he had the range advantage. There was a dark skinned man standing off to the side.

"Hey!" I shouted to the three and ran up to Sephiroth.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

I studied the person I had just about killed. A woman, about twenty years old, pink hair, interesting weapon, white coat, red half cape, short skirt, and combat boots. Two additional thoughts came up after I took in her appearance. One, she had the aura of a soldier; I would know what that aura is like. And two, I'm not one to talk, but, pink hair?

I took my sword away from her throat and felt like putting it back there when she looked at me. Vaguely similar to the blond kid. I shook off that feeling of hatred and looked over at the dark skinned man.

Long green coat, tan pants, dark brown leather boots, fingerless gloves, this man was a pilot. A pilot who had a pair of pistols and a baby chocobo living in his hair . . . Wait what? What kind of place is this?

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

The sword left my throat and I quickly examined the person standing in front of me. A man, very long silver hair, white spaulders, black leather trench coat, black leather boots, black pants, black leather gloves. He has a couple inches on Snow, I thought as a side note. Then I fully noticed the sword that was definitely longer than I was tall. It was probably about seven feet, with the handle.

I met the man's eyes for a second. Bright green piercing eyes, it seemed like he could see into my mind and learn things that I would never tell anyone. Except Serah. The man's bangs started to mystify me; they went up and away from his face before coming down. That could not be natural; then again, his hair was silver. Not grey, not platinum-blond, but a shining silver.

"Hey!" I heard a girl shout and shortly after saw one appear at the man's side. The man in black towered over her.

The girl was about Serah's height, she had very long brown hair mostly in a braid, a pink bow tied on her braid, a pink dress, a red denim mini-jacket, plain brown boots, and what looked to be a steel staff. She had two things in common with the man, her bangs did the same thing as his and her eyes were also bright green, but much more friendly.

"I got the door open," She said to the man who just gave a grunt, nodded and started walking away from me.

"Hello," The girl spoke to me and the dark skinned man.

I didn't reply, I just nodded slightly and pushed past her. I needed to get to Serah.

When we caught up to the man he had left a trail of dead creatures. We simply cut our way through without stopping. Well . . . actually . . . He cut our way through. The creatures didn't live long enough for me to do anything. I just stood back with the girl and the dark skinned man, while the one in black did everything.

The way he fought though made me curious. When he was fighting the creatures he looked like he was bored. He looked like he was just going through training exercises.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

All of these creatures were not worth the effort I was putting forth. But for the first time in . . . I'm not sure anymore . . . I began to feel a bit strained. I wondered just how much of my 'abilities' I was left with.

After a short while we met some humanoid creatures. I went straight to getting rid of them. After several one slash fights I looked back and saw that Aerith was behind me and the other two were a ways back.

"Hey," I said loudly "Pay attention or I'm leaving you behind." They both looked over and ran to catch up.

Another little while later we came to a large platform. We all stepped on to it and it lifted us up to a large set of stairs. I was up the stairs first, my instinctive SOLDIER training made look for threats. I saw a young girl lying on the floor with one very distinctive feature. Pink hair. I assumed the girl to be the soldier woman's younger sister.

"Serah!" The pink haired soldier yelled as she ran over and crouched at the girl's side. She picked up the girl and turned in the direction we came from "Time to go. We have to leave before the army-" The dark skinned man's gaze went to the strange mark on the girls left arm "What?"

"That's a pulse brand," the man said "That girl's a l'Cie."

"I already told you that," The soldier replied, I assumed that exchange occurred when they had fallen behind.

"Pulse l'Cie are enemies of Cocoon," The man said as he reached down for the pistol on his left side. The soldier's expression said she saw the movement as well.

"So they should die?" The soldier's voice grew an edge.

"Listen," The man said calmly "If she fails her Focus, you know how that'll end."

"And killing her is a mercy?" She said with rage in her eyes as the girl in her arms reached up.

"You came . . ." The young girl said to the soldier. The soldier then laid the young girl back on the ground.

"Serah!" A deep voice sounded from above the way we came in. A large man in a white trench coat jumped off the descending platform and ran over to the young girl "Serah," He said quietly as he took her hand.

"Is that . . . My hero?" The young girl said with a smile.

A moment of silence followed. I looked over at Aerith and smirked at how uncomfortable she looked. I shared the feeling, but I would never show it. I turned my sword sideways behind me so the flat side of the blade was resting against my legs

I looked over at the sound of two people walking and saw a young boy, probably in his teens, with green eyes and platinum-blond hair and another young girl with a strange outfit, compared to the other few, and reddish-orange hair. The girl gasped and brought her hands over her mouth when she saw the girl on the floor.

"Let's get you out of here," The large man said.

"Hands off. I'm taking her home," the soldier snapped at the one in the trench coat.

"Sis-" the man started.

"I'm not your sister!" the soldier snapped back again "You couldn't protect her. It's your fault she-"

"You can save us," The girl on the floor said.

"Serah?" The soldier replied sounding surprised.

"You can save us," Serah repeated "Protect us all. Save . . . Cocoon," The girl sounded like she was dying, a pattern of speech I was well acquainted with.

"Save Cocoon?" The soldier said sounding confused "Serah? That was your Focus?"

"Anything," The man said "I'll do anything. Leave it to me – you'll see. I'll protect Cocoon! I'll save everyone!"

"Somehow," The soldier said quietly, almost whispering "I'll make things right."

"You just relax," The man said in an almost cheerful tone. Serah closed her eyes and smiled at the two beside her.

"Thank you," A blue light then started shining from the mark on her arm and she was lifted into the air.

We all just stood and watched as the girl was consumed by crystal. A small blue light traveled through the air and into the man's hand. It was a large tear drop shaped crystal.

The soldier looked ready to cry.

"Why is she turning to crystal?" The other young girl said in a strange accent.

"L'Cie who fulfill their Focus are transformed into crystal and gain eternal life," The boy explained.

"Just like the stories say," The dark skinned man commented.

"Serah . . ." The tall man said almost whispering "Sweet dreams."

"Sweet dreams?" The soldier pushed the dark skinned man and walked over to the tall man "She's not sleeping! Serah's . . . She's-"

"She's alive," The tall man said reassuringly

"No," The soldier whispered.

"The legend!" The tall man said "Remember the legend! L'Cie who fulfill their focus turn to crystal and gain eternal life. It's the same with Serah! Eternal life! She's not dead!" The tall man made sure to face everyone while he said that "Serah's my bride-to-be. I promised to be hers forever! I don't care how many years I have to wait-" The soldier turned and punched the man, cutting him off. Her punch had knocked the large man off his feet.

"It's over!" The soldier yelled in a hurt tone "Open your eyes and face reality!" Silence consumed the area once again.

The room shook as a loud crash sounded. Everyone was talking at once and looking around in worry, except me. I was studying the mass of crystal that used to be the young girl.

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

Very large red cables shot through the walls, room and walls on the other side of the room.

The pink haired woman and the tall man were shielding the crystal that was 'Serah'. The other young girl and the dark skinned man were talking but I couldn't hear them over the crashing.

The shaking and crashing stopped as fast as it began. A door at the top of the next set of stairs opened. The tall man leaned down the crystal figure.

"I'll be right back. Hold on." The tall man stood up and started walking towards the stairs.

"Trench coat," The dark skinned man started "Where are you going?"

"Date with the fal'Cie," Trench-coat replied "Got some things to talk about."

"What?" The dark skinned man said "You're gonna ask _it_ to help her? Are you outa your mind, kid? That thing wants to chew us up and spit us out!"

"Well what do you want me to do?" Trench-coat yelled angrily. The pink haired woman sighed and started walking towards the stairs "Lightning?" Trench-coat said as she walked past him.

Me and Sephiroth just found out who we are supposed to be helping. I glanced over at Sephiroth and he did not look thrilled about who he was supposed to be following.

"Here we go," The dark skinned man muttered as he started following the woman.

We all climbed the stairs and went through a dark tunnel. We entered a room with a large . . . thing in it.

"So this is . . . the fal'Cie," The boy said in a nervous tone.

"Serah's a crystal now," Trench-coat said to the thing in the room "You gave her a Focus, and she did it! You got what you want! Now let her go!" Silence was the response he got. He fell to his knees and then to his hands as well "Please," Trench-coat begged "Turn her back! I'll be your l'Cie instead!" All he got was silence.

"Fine," Lightning said "You go on begging. Like this thing gives a damn what we want!" She drew her weapon, which seemed to be a folding sword, and started to attack the thick looking . . . metallic surface.

"Lightning!" Trench-coat shouted.

"It's this thing's fault the Purge started and it's people who are dying," Lightning stated "Serah told us to save Cocoon. That means this thing needs to die!"

The floor began to glow and machinery whirred to life. Two large pillars rose out of the floor and a bright light appeared as the large dome-like thing opened. I shielded my eyes but it didn't help.

"Come on now," The dark skinned man said to Lightning "You really think you can kill a fal'Cie?"

"I'm doing this for Serah!" Lightning shot back as she grabbed her sword in both hands turned so her right side was facing the thing and razed the sword to her shoulders.

Sephiroth stepped beside her and mirrored her stance, being left-handed he was fully reflecting Lightning's stance. Seph and Light were standing almost back to back and I could tell now that they would either work very well together or get in each others way.

Trench-coat stood up and raised his fists. The dark skinned man looked at his feet and muttered something before drawing his pistols and stepping in line with the other three.

"I'm in," He said proudly "As long as you don't mind an amateur."

Sephiroth shook his head slightly at that statement.

**Vote for future pairings! Vote with a review, private message, or e-mail!**

**Note: I will NOT do Seph/Aerith pair or any yaoi pairs.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't think I will be able to carry the first-person through the whole story.**

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

The ground felt unnaturally cold and smooth against my face. I opened my eyes and saw that I was lying face down on a blue surface. I pushed myself up until I was kneeling and surveyed my surroundings.

The others were unconscious and their weapons scattered around the small area. All the weapons were around . . . except the Masamune, my sword. With a feeling of annoyance I got to my feet and heard someone move.

"Serah!" The man in the trench coat shouted as he sat up quickly. The others started moving at the noise. They all stood up and looked around at the glass like area. While I did not particularly find it interesting in any way they looked around in disbelief "Is this . . . For real?"

"This must be . . . Lake Bresha?" The dark skinned pilot said sounding confused "I guess we fell from up there, and the lake turned to crystal?" While he spoke the others continued to look at the area and give me a weird look when they thought I wasn't looking "Help me out here! I mean, did the fal'Cie do this?" The man continued sounding like he was starting to panic "How in the world did we end up here?" He asked nobody as he turned to Lightning, as if she would know.

"How should I know?" She snapped back. Her gaze flicked to me with a high amount of distrust present. I found it humorous that they thought nothing of Aerith, at all.

"We're alive," The red head said "How?"

"Serah!" The large man said. I decided that if that was going to be his catch-phrase I was going to start disliking this journey "No one survives a fall from that high, not without a miracle. Serah saved us!"

"Serah?" Lightning said with an angry tone "Listen it's all your fault she got-" Lightning spun at the sound of something approaching. It was what they called Cie'th and a large one at that.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" The dark skinned man shouted as he retreated. The creature swung at Lightning and the large man ran over.

"Watch out!" He shouted as he gave Lightning a slight push and stopped the things arm. I noticed a mark on the man's left arm that was similar to the mark on the young girl in the Vestige. The mark on his arm glowed blue, his hand was covered with ice, he punched the large creature and knocked it down. It did not move again "What did I . . . just do?" The man said as he wrapped his hand around the mark.

"You used magic!" The boy yelled finally standing up. The young red head beside him squeaked as more of the creatures started stomping toward us "You used the power of a l'Cie. The fal'Cie cursed us. We're l'Cie now!" The boy was trying to sound angry but I could hear his sadness.

"Right," Was all Lightning said as she drew her weapon and made it unfold into a sword.

She, the large man and the young red head took up a battle stance. I joined them on the side. I could feel some magic power in my veins, though it was less than a fraction of what I used to have. I was confident that I was the most experienced with . . . well, combat in general.

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

Lightning, Trench-coat, the girl and Sephiroth got rid of the creatures in a couple of minutes. They had very little trouble with the fight; Lightning and Sephiroth had gone into close combat with Trench-coat and the girl using magic.

Lightning and Sephiroth had one thing in common so far. They both made fighting look like an art, a dance even. A highly coordinated dance of death that required a high level of physical and mental fitness.

Sephiroth killed the last creature with an attack like what Trench-coat first did. Except Sephiroth's hand was covered in fire. After the creatures were dead Trench-coat looked at his arm with the mark. He turned to face Lightning before he spoke.

"So we really are l'Cie," Lightning sighed and turned away from Trench-coat after his statement.

"Looks like it," Sazh said sounding depressed.

"You too?" Trench-coat asked the girl.

"Yep," She answered then turned to the side "Right here," She lifted the left side of her skirt. Her mark was so far up her thigh it was almost on her butt cheek.

"Okay," Trench-sounded like he was weirded out by the placement of the girls mark. He turned to me and his gaze flicked down to my chest for a second.

I looked down and saw that I had the same mark pretty much on the top of my left breast. I looked back up and saw that Trench-coat was looking at Sephiroth and seemed afraid to talk to Seph. Sephiroth had no hostile expression but he had the most imposing aura.

"Where's yours?" I asked the former general.

"Near my right shoulder blade," Sephiroth said calmly. I knew it must be on the spot where his wing used to appear.

The others turned to face the boy in the middle of the group.

"L'Cie to the last," Lightning stated. The boy fell to his knees and had an expression of despair.

"Why me?" He turned to Lightning "I don't even know you! But you have to go and attack that thing?" He turned to Trench-coat "Just leave me alone! It's your fault – it's your fault my –! You could've –!" He quickly got to his feet "All of this is your and Serah's fault!"

"Watch it!" Trench-coat shouted back as he stepped towards the boy.

The boy fell over and skittered backwards until he ran into Lightning's leg. He looked up and she looked down, when their gazes met he crawled to the side and held the sides of his head.

"Sorry," I heard Trench-coat say. I walked over to the boy to try to settle him down.

When I touched the boy's shoulders he looked up at me. I gave him a smile and picked some words that might help.

"Everything is gonna be alright. You'll see," The girl walked over to the boy's other side and grabbed his arm.

"Come on," She said as she pulled the boy to his feet "Off we go!" The girl was pulling the boy along behind her. I stood up and started to follow with my staff in hand.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

Lightning, the large man, and the dark skinned man turned to me once the 'kids' were out of earshot. They had the look of distrust and seemed like they trying to figure out what I was.

"Who are you?" Lightning asked in the classic soldier tone, she reminded me of Genesis "Where did you come from?"

"That doesn't matter anymore," I replied in my soldier tone, which used to make people cower in fear. I turned and started to head in the same direction as the 'kids' so I wouldn't have any more question's to answer.

They started talking when they thought I was out of earshot. They were discussing whether or not to trust me. The large man pointed out that I was a l'Cie, like them, and Lightning said that didn't mean I was trustworthy. She also said that I was obviously a soldier at some time which could make me very dangerous to the group if turned on them. They had no idea what I was like and that amused me.

I joined the group of kids and the other three followed soon after. Lightning looked to be very calm even though one of the most bizarre events had happened. I didn't think twice about it though.

"Trust the soldier to keep her cool through this mess," The dark skinned man commented.

"Okay if we don't know our Focus, how do we complete it?" Lightning thought aloud and crossed her arms.

"I think . . . I saw it," The young girl said shyly. Lightning turned to the girl.

"Saw what?" Lightning asked the young girl.

"That is how a Focus comes down, people," The dark skinned man said flatly "The fal'Cie? They don't spell it out with clear cut instructions. All you get is a hazy glimpse," Lightning and the large man gave the dark skinned man suspicious looks "Well, that's what they say. You know legends and all."

In the moment of silence I looked around and saw that no one but Aerith had come within five feet of me, even though I was standing in the middle of the small area. I was beginning to feel anxious about whether or not the Masamune would turn up.

Lightning was about to ask me something but stopped when her eyes met mine. She turned to the boy instead.

"Did you see anything?"

"I uh – I just . . ." The boy stuttered "It's all kind of foggy, but . . . I saw this big – I mean _towering_ –" The boy seemed to be flustered about having Lightning staring at him.

"W-wait a minute," The dark skinned man said with a tone of discovery "Hold on now. Did we _all_ have the same dream?"

"Ragnarok," Lightning and the large man said.

"So, we all saw the same dream," The dark skinned man said quietly "We all heard that same voice."

"You mean that was our Focus?" The boy said flatly "But how are we supposed to know what to do from that?"

"Isn't it self-explanatory?" I said to no one in particular "We are supposed to figure it out ourselves."

"The dream is the only hint the fal'Cie gives us," The young girl said to all of us.

"Okay, okay," The dark skinned man said in a tone that sounded like he figured something out "We're Pulse l'Cie, right? Enemies of Cocoon! So, does that mean our Focus is–? Are we supposed to–?"

"Save her," The large man said.

"Say what?" The dark skinned man asked, annoyed at being interrupted.

"Our Focus is to protect Cocoon," The large man said, in a rather heroic tone. I was beginning to get annoyed at how thick this man's skull is.

"Really?" The young girl said in a subtle mocking tone "Okay, and why's that?" I turned to face the large man.

"Why would an enemy of Cocoon give us the task of protecting it?" I asked while glaring at the large man. Personally I didn't even care what the reason was, I just wanted to know what my objective was and how long I had to complete it.

"Serah told us," I was ready to hit the man because he would not stop with 'Serah' "Let's do it," He looked each person in the eye, except me. Most likely because he was scared to look me in the eye "We're all in this together. I'm gonna look for Serah. She ought to be nearby." He turned and started jogging away.

"I'll come too!" The young girl yelled at him "Wait!"

The dark skinned man muttered something to himself that the boy agreed to before they both started off. Aerith gave me a slight nod before heading after the others. I threw a sideways glance at Lightning before following suit.

I still did not like the thought of having to take commands from a woman, having kids to look after and basically doing exactly what I did to put me in this situation.

**How was that? Better interaction?**

**By the way, sorry this took so long.**

**Review to make me update faster.**

**For the pairs I have 4 votes for Seph/Light, 0 for Seph/other, and 0 for Aerith/character.**

**Readers, don't forget to vote for pairings. **


	4. Chapter 4

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

After several small battles with _Cie'th_, as the people called them, I had almost burst out laughing when I noticed not one of the others had even entered the five foot radius around Sephiroth. I had wanted to tell them that Sephiroth wasn't all bad, but thought it would be better for them to just warm up to him.

Another thing occurred to me after a couple of minutes, we did not even know each other's names. Well other than Lightning. I decided that any time is as good as ever for introductions.

"Well I may as well introduce myself. I'm Aerith Gainsborough."

"Snow. Snow Villiers," Trench-coat said.

"Hope Estheim," The boy said.

"Sazh Katzroy," The dark skinned man said.

"Vanille," The young red head said. I thought it strange that she only gave one name when the others gave two. Then again there was Sephiroth; he only had the one given name.

"That's Sergeant Farron," Snow said for Lightning "She calls herself Lightning, so her real first name is anyone's guess."

I noticed the lack of a response from Sephiroth and so did the others. He had stopped and looked over his shoulder at least. Everyone turned to him waiting for an answer.

"Sephiroth Crescent," He said taking his birth mothers name. I noted that it was his first step towards changing himself "You can address me as Sephiroth or not at all. I will not tolerate _any_ other title. Is that clear?"

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

The way Sephiroth introduced himself made me think of a general or another high ranking military officer. It was confirming my suspicion of him being part of the, actually, _A_ military force. But how could a soldier or officer that looked like him not be mentioned at all.

Snow walked towards Sephiroth and did something that he was going to regret.

"You're about as talkative and friendly as Lightning," Even though it was a joke it still made me furious, because it was Snow talking "What's wrong with a nickname like silver?"

Sephiroth had turned around grabbed Snow's throat, with his left hand, and lifted the muscle head into the air. All in an instant, you could've blinked and missed it. I knew everyone was surprised about how easily Sephiroth had lifted Snow.

I ripped Blaze Edge out of its sheath and pointed the gun-mode gun-blade at the man in black. It may have just been Snow, but the unknown man was attacking an ally. The others had drawn their weapons as well.

"I told you. I will not tolerate any given titles," His face and tone were completely calm "That should be reason enough, Mister _Villiers_," He put Snow down and released him. Sephiroth turned away and continued on through the crystallized lake. It was impossible to tell if he had a lightning quick temper or he was trying to make us fear him.

I heard Aerith sigh and saw her shake her head. She knew something about that man and I did not like that they were hiding something, but I would wait until they reveal it. I turned and saw Snow's face light up with an epiphany.

"We fight it!" Snow shouted. Sephiroth stopped dead and turned around "Ragnarok! That's the reason we're l'Cie. To stop it – to keep Cocoon safe!" Sephiroth crossed his arms and made 'hmph' sound as he shook his head lightly.

"Yeah," Sazh said with a suspicious tone. He was going to continue the thought but Sephiroth cut him off.

"Why don't you give us one reason to believe that?" Sephiroth said with a calm tone but the perpetual glare on his face.

"One reason," Was all Sazh added.

"Serah," Snow replied instantly. Sephiroth just shook his head and made the 'hmph' sound again. I could tell that Sephiroth did not like Snow at all; the feeling was mutual between us "She said to protect Cocoon, and then she turned to crystal," Snow stated in a thoughtful tone "That's the proof right there. She completed her Focus!" He said excitedly "That means ours is to save Cocoon. Serah's fal'Cie was the same as ours. Our Focus has got to be the same," It appeared that everyone was going to listen the thick headed moron before shooting down his idea "We were chosen to be guardians, to defeat Ragnarok! It makes sense!"

"The hell it does!" Sazh yelled at Snow "You're grasping at straws, son! Pulse fal'Cie are Cocoon's enemies. We just got recruited by one of them. If I were a bettin' man . . ." Sazh walked up to Snow so they were less than three feet apart "I'd put us on the other side."

"So Serah's an enemy too? Well I don't buy it!" Snow turned away from Sazh and jogged over to me "We have the power to save Cocoon. If we work together and carry out our Focus-"

He stopped as I put Blaze Edge, in sword-mode, up to his throat.

"Our Focus?" I half shouted at him "The fal'Cie took Serah from us, and you want to help it?" My voice rising at the last part "Whose side are you on?"

"Freeze!" A distorted male voice shouted. I looked to see where it had come from.

It was a PSICOM soldier that had come from the way we had. He was part of a squad that had most likely been dispatched to rid the area of survivors. Three more PSICOM soldiers came running up behind Sephiroth. The man in black was completely calm, as was I, as the squad aimed the guns at all of us. Sephiroth uncrossed his arms and put them at his sides.

"Place your hands behind your heads!" Everyone except Sephiroth and I complied right away. I sighed before letting Blaze Edge clatter on the crystal surface at my feet.

The PSICOM soldier put his gun on his shoulder and walked up to me "You fall off the Purge train?" He said in a mocking tone.

"Maybe," I replied flatly as I put my hands behind my head.

"Are you talking back to me," He growled as he pointed the gun at my face. I was about to kick his ass but I heard the other soldiers yelling.

"Put your hands behind your head! Now!" A PSICOM soldier growled at Sephiroth as the three trained their guns on him and stepped within his reach.

"You have just made a fatal mistake," The black clothed man said calmly before spinning and slamming his left fist into the soldiers lightly protected throat.

The soldier was thrown backwards from the force and Sephiroth used that moment of surprise. He grabbed the helmet of the soldier, which was now on his right, with his right hand, punched the base of his skull with his left hand and pushed the top of the soldiers head back, severing his spine. He delivered a back kick to the third soldier and I saw the helmet crunch inwards where Sephiroth's foot connected.

The three soldiers that approached Sephiroth were dead in a matter of seconds after they got within his reach. Honestly, I was impressed, Sephiroth was an amazing fighter, but he was too strong and too fast to be simply highly trained.

The main group of soldiers were starting to panic and I took that opportunity. I stomped on the very end of the handle of Blaze Edge, causing it to spin into the air. I snatched it out of midair and sliced the soldier that had his gun in my face a moment ago.

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

Lightning started cutting down the soldiers that ambushed us. Sephiroth flung himself into the fight. Quite literally, by sending an Aero spell at his feet at the instant he jumped. Snow also ran at the soldiers and began to fight them. Lightning was using the same sword style that Sephiroth used, Sephiroth was using a fist-fighting style that I could recognize as something from Wutai, and Snow was using his reckless looking fighting style.

I simply stood back and watched with Hope, Vanille, and Sazh. The four of us were not trained in close range combat like the soldier, the general, or the street fighter. We would have gotten in the way if we tried to help, but we were content with having healing spells prepped.

After all the soldiers were dead we gathered around the first one Lightning killed. Sazh was the first one to speak.

"I thought they would be tougher than that," He thought aloud "These guys are PSICOM, yeah?" He seemed to ask Lightning, but didn't wait for a response "Supposed to be cream of the crop," Sazh commented offhandedly, again.

"Yeah, but PSICOM's an anti-Pulse task force," Snow pointed out "Haven't fought a war in centuries. Bunch of rookie troops swinging around overpriced toys."

"So, from what you're telling me," Sazh sounded kind of puzzled "It sounds like a regular old soldier has got more training than special forces."

"Nothing for us l'Cie to be afraid of," Snow said in a confident tone.

"Cut the crap," Lightning said flatly "Their grunts maybe green, but PSICOM's elites are cold-blooded beasts. They hit the field and it's game over."

Me and Vanille looked at each other as Lightning said that. Vanille looked back to the group and did something rather funny, in my opinion.

"Uh-oh!" Vanille said with false fear. The whole group turned to her before she continued "Then let's run away!" She turned her body away from the group and did a pre-run pose "Ciao!" And she was running away.

I turned to the group and waved while saying 'Bye-bye' before I ran after her.

"Hey wait!" I heard Sazh yell after us.

Me and Vanille stopped when they could no longer see us but could hear us if we made noise. We heard some grunts before several different sets of feet moving toward us. When they rounded the corner, that me and Vanille hid behind, we rejoined the group and continued on with the 'quest' we were forcefully given.

**Thanks to some helpful advice I realized that it is rather pointless to have the readers vote on pairings. So the pairings will be:**

**Light/Seph (somehow. Sephiroth's emotions are non-existent, other than joy and rage.)**

**Fang/Vanille (sisterly)  
**

**Aerith/nobody (I can't see her with any of the l'Cie)**

**If you have some story suggestions feel free to tell me. Otherwise I might start suffering from writers block. And that just sucks for everyone.**

**REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

After countless fights with all manner of creatures we came to a large area with a crystal statue on a razed platform. There was also a very long sword on the ground; it kind of explained what happened to it.

Wait, crystal statue? That thought raced through my mind as I walked down the ramp that was a Purge train "Serah."

"Serah!" Snow yelled as he nearly pushed me out of the way to sprint towards her. With Sephiroth always being in front of the group Snow almost knocked him over as Snow ran past him.

Snow crouched in front of Serah and started saying something.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

Snow ran up to the crystallized girl and called her name a second time. He muttered something about getting her out of the crystal and went to grab a piece of rubble that was behind me.

I slipped my left foot under my sword, right above the hilt, and brought my leg upwards sharply. My sword rose into the air and I calmly grabbed it in my left hand. I looked back at Snow and saw that he was chipping at the crystal at Serah's feet.

"I help you," Vanille told Snow as she ran up with a broken pipe and began to pound the ground with it. Snow thanked her for the assistance; I just saw how futile their actions were.

Sazh stood beside Snow for a few moments before also grabbing a piece of wreckage and assisting. Hope, Lightning, Aerith and I just stood and watched the futile efforts of the three desperately trying to 'rescue' Serah.

I noticed everyone, except Aerith, had given my sword a weird look. It was understandable; I was the only person who could use the seven foot sword with deadly precision.

I heard Lightning mutter something and watched as she turned away from Serah and started walking. Snow heard Lightning walking away and quickly stopped what he was doing.

"Lightning?" Snow asked the soldier "You're just gonna leave her?"

"PSICOM will be here soon. I they find us, we're all dead," Except me I thought "You think Serah would want that? You think you know how she feels?" It sounded like Lightning was close to tears.

She's a soldier and she starts breaking down when someone even mentions her sister. Some would say my thoughts are too harsh. But then again, if Lightning breaks down at the mere mention of Serah's name in the future, she _IS_ going to die.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

"If I leave her," Snow said flatly "Then I'll never know," I was starting to hate Snow even more, if it was even possible. He did not seem to understand that Serah was little more than, if not, dead. I glanced at Sephiroth and he had an analytical look in his eyes, the same type analysing look that a predator has before it makes its kill. "We'll be fine. I can handle anything they throw at us. No one will die," Sephiroth's face darkened as soon as the words left the oafs mouth.

"And by simply saying that you have condemned yourself and one other to death," Sephiroth calmly stated, only loud enough for me to hear.

"I'll protect Serah. And Cocoon!" I'm not sure what happened next. I felt the wall in front of my anger and depression, give way. The next thing I knew, Snow was lying on top of Sazh at my feet.

"Does she look protected to you?" I tried to say calmly but yelled loudly, my voice almost breaking at the end. Snow got to his feet and yelled right back at me.

"I can save her!" He probably would have said more but my fist didn't wait to find out. He landed on Sazh, again, and I was trying really hard to get my temper under control.

"What can you possibly do?" I was starting to force my temper under control. Snow made a smart decision, for once, and remained on the ground while he spoke.

"Whatever it takes!" I felt my fist unclench as I finished taking control of my anger. Sazh got up and brushed away imaginary dust.

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

I just stood silently as the scene unfolded in front of me. I didn't mind that no one was even looking at me; I was usually the person that people spoke to in private.

"You two are hopeless," Sazh said as he walked away from Lightning and Snow. I think he just wanted out of the swing range "They just can't admit it," He said to me when he stopped beside me. He turned back to Lightning before speaking again "You want to stay as much as he does," To my knowledge, Lightning didn't react at all to Sazh's words.

Sazh walked to the closest wall and leaned against it. Snow went back to chipping at the crystal with the metal . . . thing. After a moment Sephiroth turned his head slightly as if he heard something.

"No . . . No!" Sazh shouted "No, no, no, not now!" We all looked at what Sazh was shouting at.

It was some kind of robot that seemed to be damaged. It was up on the ledge that we had come down from. It jumped off the ledge and, more or less, fell down to where we were.

Hope fell over in his scramble to get away from the machine. I ran over and helped him up and away from the battle area. Sephiroth, Lightning, Snow and Vanille ran towards the machine. Sazh, Hope, and I were staying back out of the approximate fight zone.

Sephiroth and Lightning charged towards the robot and went for the 'eyes' of the machine. Well, Lightning went for the 'eyes,' Sephiroth was intending to cut the thing in half. When his sword hit the robot it bounced off the armor of the machine. Lightning's sword sunk into the 'eye' of the machine and she pulled the sword free right away.

The battle lasted a few minutes. With Snow and Vanille throwing spells at it and Sephiroth and Lightning hacking away at its body, I'm surprised the machine even lasted thirty seconds.

After the robot was reduced to a pile of burning machinery we all turned to face Serah once more. Lightning turned away and took a step before Snow blocked her.

"You're leaving?" Snow said with outrage in his voice. A long moment of silence passed before someone else spoke.

"We want to help Serah too," Sazh said before sighing "But without tools . . . we could be digging for days. The army's on our trail."

"If we don't keep moving we'll be killed in a matter of hours," Sephiroth said calmly.

"So I just abandon her, and save myself?" Snow nearly yelled at Sephiroth.

"What about your Focus?" Lightning said in the classic soldier tone, making Snow's attention snap back to her "What about banding together and saving the world? Isn't that what you promised? Now you want to forget it all and die right here?" Sazh sighed again and Lightning let her words sink in for a moment "Snow? You're nothing but talk." Lightning walked around Snow and the rest of us didn't move. Except for Sephiroth he walked past Snow with the Masamune resting on his shoulder, blade pointed towards him, so it wouldn't hurt anyone by accident.

"Lightning!" Snow said sharply making Lightning stop. Sephiroth stopped as he passed her. "I'll do what ever it takes. I'll finish this Focus . . . _and_ keep Serah safe. That's my promise."

"Great job so far," With Lightning keeping her voice devoid of emotion, I assumed she was being sarcastic. She continued walking away and Sephiroth followed after making eye contact with me.

"Stay out of trouble," Snow said with a smile as Sazh walked by him.

"You too," Sazh replied with a pat on Snow's shoulder.

"Get goin," Snow said to Hope Vanille, and me while pointing towards the others with his thumb.

Vanille and I ran ahead to catch up and almost didn't realize that we left Hope behind. We saw Hope and Snow talking but were way to far away to hear them. I shouted for Hope and he started running towards us but he stopped shortly after and watched Snow go back to digging.

When Hope caught up to us, we had to sprint for a little while to catch up to Sazh. Shortly after, meaning two corners later, we found Lightning and Sephiroth patiently waiting for us.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

After what felt like an endless amount of small fights with Breshan Bass and militarized creatures, we stopped to take a break. Though we only stopped because Hope, Aerith and Sazh needed a break.

The other three of us found something to keep us interested until we could continue. I was cleaning the blood of the Bass off my sword, Vanille was prancing around the others trying to get them going, and Sephiroth was adjusting his coat.

When his coat was open for an instant I caught a glimpse of a small emblem on his large belt. It was five silver stars arranged in a circle, at first it meant nothing to me. But what it meant quickly came to the front of my mind. The symbol was a military rank; it meant he was a five star general. On the battlefield his was always the last word.

Now I was very curious about who the man was and where he came from. There is no way a five star general looked like him and simply wanders around. Though it would explain why he seemed to hate the idea of waiting for the others.

We continued onward before to long and soon came across a long tube that spanned a very large gorge. Before crossing the gorge we arranged our selves with Hope in the front, me behind him, Vanille behind me, Sephiroth behind her, Aerith behind Sephiroth and Sazh at the back.

"Okay, do not shake the slippery tube!" Sazh shouted to all of us "We cool on this? Do not shake the slippery tube!"

When we were half way across I heard a shriek from behind me and spun around. I saw Vanille slip and fall off the tube and I reached out but couldn't help her. Sephiroth leapt off the tube, shoved his sword, horizontally, into the tube and grabbed Vanille's arm before she could fall too far.

Sephiroth hung from his sword for a moment to let Vanille calm down. He lifted her up and quickly wrapped his arm around her middle and she wrapped her arms and legs around him. Sephiroth used his sword as a way to get back to the tube. He lifted helped Vanille up to me and Aerith so we could pull her up. After Vanille was back on the tube, Sephiroth then lifted himself up onto his sword so he was perched on it then stepped onto the tube.

Once he retrieved his sword he motioned for us to keep moving.

**Please Review.**


	6. Chapter 6

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

After many climbs, bridges, and creatures, we happened upon a cliff that was overlooking a very large airship. It was obviously PSICOM. We all crouched or went to hands and knees to avoid being seen, though it most likely had no effect.

"They must be hunting Purge survivors," Sazh commented to us.

"I hope everyone made it out okay," Vanille said quietly.

"So do I," Sazh stated with quickly glancing at her "But nowhere is safe for them now," I agreed with that thought "Damn it! Just 'cause they shared a neiborhood with a fal'Cie they get treated like Pulse-tainted rats."

"People really hate Pulse, don't they?" Vanille asked Sazh with a hint of sadness.

"Not _hate_," Sazh replied, not noticing the sadness in Vanille's voice "More like _fear_. Tens of millions of people . . . all scared of Pulse boogeymen," I heard Sephiroth mutter something about the unknown "They'd be shakin in their beds every night if they knew that l'Cie like us were around."

"But . . . They Purged that entire town!" Vanille pointed out.

"It's crazy, I know," Sazh said flatly "But the Sanctum fal'Cie did nothing to stop it. Up until now, Eden's always stepped in to correct their errors in judgement," There was a moment of silence before Sazh spoke again "Guess humans aren't worth the effort. (Another moment of silence) Figure they'll let us kill each other off."

"It's impossible for humans _not_ to kill each other," Sephiroth said loud enough for us all to hear "Unless you give an outside threat that will slaughter indiscriminately."

The way Sephiroth said that statement bugged me. He said it in a way that sounded like he was remembering something and trying to make a threat.

"L'Cie are not human," Hope stated as he stood up.

"Which means, we are the outside threat, every weapon is pointed at us," Sephiroth stated "We have united the people of Cocoon against us."

"Listen you," Vanille stood up and walked over to Sephiroth "That's enough!" Vanille glared at Sephiroth for an extended period before walking away from him.

"We're still alive," Vanille almost whispered "That's something," She said cheerfully.

The ground started vibrating violently and a loud rumbling was in the air.

"What?" I unintentionally asked no one.

"Where is it?" Sazh asked in general.

"I don't know," Hope answered a moment later.

"There!" I almost shouted when I saw an approaching aircraft.

Eight of the large aircraft flew by us. The eight craft split into pairs and flew in separate directions. Their intentions became crystal – no – clear as glass to me.

"They're sealing off the area," I practically announced to everyone "They're trying to trap the stragglers."

"We've got to keep moving if we're to avoid being caught in the net," Sephiroth said calmly before heading off.

"At least he's straight to the point," Aerith said before following him. I was still curious about that girl.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

I was furious at the fact that I had forgotten how much my power meant to me. I had been enchanting the edge of the Masamune, which made it able to cut through almost anything, but now it was a regular sword that was nearly indestructible. It was not just my sword I had upgraded with my power but also my speed. Even though I was still the fastest warrior in the group, and most likely the world, I still felt slow because I was used to stopping bullets with my weapon.

Even though I was near my point of 'flipping out' as Zack used to say, I kept my calm façade. The constant encounters with this PSICOM faction and their drones assisted me by keeping my mind off of how much I wanted my power back.

After a while of traveling along the oddly convenient path, we came across what seemed to be a suspension bridge. Sazh must have seen it before and it must have been a mobile bridge according to what he said.

"Too bad that's all busted up," He commented "Sure would've made things easier."

A group of three soldiers were at the other end and they started running towards us immediately after one of them spotted us. Lightning shot past me to engage them.

I watched as the soldiers began shooting at the very agile woman who cut down the soldier on the right with little trouble. She swung the blunt side of the sword at the one in the middle, knocking him down, before having to dodge the next volley of bullets. Because of my superhuman sight, I saw several bullets graze the pink haired woman's arms and legs, after which I informed Aerith to prep a healing spell. Lightning shoved her sword into the chest of the soldier, killing him, then pulled it free and sheathed it. She turned back to us with a look that told us to get moving, a look that I had used on many soldiers and the other firsts. I saw the soldier that was knocked down begin to move again so to assist Lightning, I sent a simple bolt spell at the soldier. The electric current stopped his heart and he dropped, dead before he hit the ground. Aerith sent the healing spell to Lightning and we proceeded forward.

We soon came to a very large, but climbable, cliff of crystallized water. Lightning and I were able to leap from ledge to ledge up to the top. We scanned the area and began to wait for the other four, who were helping each other climb ledge to ledge.

"Who are you really?" Lightning asked sternly out of nowhere. I was assuming she had seen my rank pin while my coat was open earlier.

"Former, five-star General, Sephiroth," I replied calmly "I haven't been part of the military since a certain, highly classified, incident. Most, if not all, of my records were destroyed," I knew what question was coming next.

"What incident?" The soldier woman asked me.

"I refuse to talk about it," I replied, actually more like snapped back. A very small part of me said to apologize but I saw no point in doing that. I also saw no reason in letting anyone have any information on me right now.

My mind drifted back to my mission of having to change. The biggest way I would change was letting people get to know me but they had to earn my trust first. The only people I have trusted before this moment was Angeal, Genesis, and Zack; my friends. The other large way I would change was by bringing down the wall in my mind that separated me from my emotions. I was the one who built it and I had assumed it was perfect but my outburst in Nibelheim was the best argument against that.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

When Aerith, Vanille, Hope and Sazh had reached Sephiroth and me we, as in Sephiroth and I, continued on while the others took a short break to catch their breath. They caught up to us before long and we soon encountered many more soldiers, militarized creatures, and military droids.

With me and Sephiroth at the front and the others supporting with magic we made short work of all the units we came across. The fights we fell into blended together with how much we were walking. Soon after another fight we came upon a vista near the top of the lake. Vanille and Aerith ran forward to look at the view.

"Whoa," They both said quietly "This whole place is crystal!" Vanille then stated loudly.

I looked into the distance and saw two airships that were scanning the area. I knew we had to keep moving but I needed to take a break and it seemed like Sephiroth knew that somehow. For once he didn't say anything about having to keep moving; then again, maybe he also needed a breather but just wouldn't admit it.

"I wonder what it would be like," Sazh said in his offhanded way "To become a crystal, I mean."

"You're gonna complete your Focus?" Vanille asked with an innocent tone. Sazh gave a shrug before speaking.

"Maybe. If I knew what it was," Sazh said flatly "I probably don't want to know." Vanille turned to me after Sazh finished.

"Hey, Lightning. Did Serah say anything to you about her Focus?" Vanille asked me in her innocent tone. I dropped my gaze to my shoes and grabbed my necklace.

"Nothing," I replied quieter then I intended. I could sense that Vanille thought I looked depressed.

"Oh, you know what?" She asked cheerfully as she, more or less, pranced over to me "She probably didn't want to worry you."

"Or she just didn't think she could trust me," I meant to keep that thought to myself but it slipped out. When I realized my folly I turned away from Vanille, Hope, Sazh, Aerith and Hope. They all began follow me as soon as I was two steps ahead.

The next bend in this path, which had to be the flukiest thing ever, brought us to a cave that was little more than seven feet wide and almost fifteen feet tall. I heard someone make a sound similar to a growl behind. I thought that it was most likely Sephiroth because he would not be able to fight that well in this cave.

"Listen, you," Sazh said in a rather fatherly tone "There's no need to be all negative. You still have your magic, don't ya?"

Luckily, we only had to fight three drones in the cave and we easily destroyed them with magic. When we got out of the cave I saw some ruins and knew those were our next destination because there was nowhere else to go. I heard Sephiroth give a sigh of relief and Sazh mutter something recognizing something he saw.

There was a large flight of stairs before the ruins but Sephiroth ran up the stairs and disappeared over the top. The rest of us went at a calm pace up the stairs but broke into a sprint when we heard the cry of a behemoth. When we crested the stairs we saw the silver haired man standing next to a dead behemoth.

The behemoth had its front left leg completely severed and it had been decapitated. Sephiroth gave us quick glance over his shoulder before walking away. I did not know what to think, I simply couldn't believe that he just killed a behemoth by himself. What is he?

**Sorry for taking so long. I lost my motivation for a while but its back.**

**Please Review to keep me motivated.**


	7. Chapter 7

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

We went through the ruins with a fair bit of ease. The enemies we encountered were not that tough at all. At least, Sephiroth and Lightning made them look weak with how easily they killed the soldiers. Me, Vanille and Hope had taken the role of healers of the group, actually Lightning when she needed it because Sephiroth had not yet even been hit. To our knowledge Sephiroth had never been hit, for all we knew he could be bleeding to death but he would keep us from knowing somehow.

After what felt like hours we found a set of stairs that led to a open area with some kind of crystal forms at the back. We entered cautiously because large areas usually mean something bad is about to happen, at least, that's what my experiences have taught me.

We walked straight towards the crystal forms which were directly in front of us. Vanille ran up ahead and passed between Lightning and Sephiroth.

"Stay close," they said in unison as they watched Vanille run past them. Vanille turned around after they spoke.

"I want to look around," Vanille half shouted back before turning back around and giggling.

A few short moments later Vanille went behind a collapsed archway and the others began other activities. Hope, Sazh and Lightning made some small talk, nothing more than learning some simple facts about each other. Sephiroth stood right where he stopped and looked around the area, so I decided to go give him some company. As soon as I was beside him we all heard Vanille scream.

She ran out from behind and rounded the collapsed arch way just before a large winged creature smashed though it and several of the crystal forms. Vanille ran towards us as Sazh called for her and Lightning and Sephiroth stepped forward and took up their stances. The creature began to gently hover in front of us and I knew that this was going to be an amazing fight to watch.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

Me and Sephiroth flew towards the militarized wyvern ready to kill the thing the very second we got the chance. Sephiroth ran ahead of me and used his sword to pole-vault up and onto the wyvern. He slashed at the wyvern but his sword did nothing but scratch the metallic skin of the winged beast. I knew that he did not know where to strike the beast and I tried to tell him by shooting at the eyes and mouth of the creature.

Sephiroth leapt off the creature and landed next to me. He clearly did not receive the message I was trying to get across.

"The eyes and the mouth," I said to Sephiroth. He just gave me a slight nod to confirm he heard before looking over his shoulder at the others.

"Ice magic!" He yelled to them and then he turned to me "The ice will make the metal brittle."

"How do you know?" I asked as I dodged the creature's tail.

"The metal is flexible which means it has a high resistance to heat and must also be kept at a high temperature for it to stay flexible. If we make it cold it will get hard and when it warms up it will be brittle," Sephiroth explained to me as we both dodged the creatures spin attack. I was stunned that he was able to figure that out in such a small amount of time "We have to hit it with thunder magic to stun it and keep it focused on us instead of them."

"Got it," I replied and focused on channelling the magic energy. By the time I had focused enough energy to throw one spell I had seen several ice spells hit the creature and three separate thunder spells. I was stunned once again because I saw Sephiroth send the thunder spells. It seemed like he was used to using magic, which I thought was impossible unless he had been a l'Cie longer than us, somehow.

Before too long Sephiroth's plan worked. The wings of the creature started to move slower and the creature fell to the ground. We all stopped sending spells at it because they were ineffective at the moment. When the creature started to move again it flapped its wings hard and sharply moved its head around causing most of its metal armor to shatter. It turned around and launched itself away from us, smashed though the crystal at the top of some stairs and went into the next area where a PSICOM ship sat.

"It's charging up," I stated to the others.

"Charging?" Sazh asked sounding confused "What are you talking about? Charging up for what?" Sazh asked quickly.

"Its last moments," I replied in a tone that was a bit more cheerful than I intended.

We chased after it intending to kill the beast. Seeing as how it was out of reach we all resorted to using spells against the wyvern. All of us except Sephiroth that is.

He seemed to be taunting, or rather, baiting the creature. He was slashing at the things tail, and trying to get it to lunge at him. I thought that plan was useless until the beast looked down at him and started ignoring the rest of us.

The beast swooped down to bite at Sephiroth who seemed to dodge the attack with ease. He quickly recovered from his dodge, jumped and slashed his sword upwards through the beasts neck, completely decapitating it. I could not believe that he had just severed the head of that beast. Their bones were almost as hard as stone.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

When my feet hit the ground I flicked my left wrist to get the creatures blood off the Masamune. I looked over my shoulder at the group and saw that all but Aerith had a look of disbelief. I was starting to think that maybe I should try to keep my SOLDIER abilities in check, but I quickly threw that thought aside. Since when did I care about what people thought of me?

Vanille ran past me and motioned towards, what I hoped was an airship.

"Check it out!" She excitedly said to us, before running further ahead while giggling. Vanille's cheerfulness was starting to annoy me.

"Come on. Hop to it, let's go!" I heard Sazh say to the others.

As we walked towards the . . . thing, I saw a bird of some sort land on a high ledge with my peripheral vision. I knew it was pointless for me to take note of such a thing but it was just good training that made me notice everything in my field of vision.

"This will make things easier," Vanille said in her cheerful way.

"Yeah knowin' our luck, it's probably missing an engine," Sazh commented in a very subtle joking tone. I was only able to detect the tone because Angeal always spoke to Zack that way. I felt a very small pang of sadness when I thought of them, but I brushed it aside.

"You shouldn't be so negative," Aerith replied in a mock mothering tone.

"Well you shouldn't get your hopes up," Sazh stated as he walked away from Vanille and Aerith, towards the ramp up to the thing while waving his hand in a dismissive way.

Once we were all seated and buckled into the seats Sazh took the seat at the front of the airship, pushed a button and the engine hummed to life. The ship took off at a much faster speed than I anticipated, which made me get pushed into the seat. Sazh aimed the ship at a very large opening in the top of the area and pulled it into a completely vertical path.

"Awww no!" Sazh shouted as several bright orange lasers impacted all around us. Lightning undid her buckle and threw herself towards the controls.

"Give me that!" Lightning half shouted as she put her hand on one of Sazh's, which made the pilot yelp in surprise, and made him push a button on the stick. Bullets flew from the front of the ship and hit something in front of us. We flew out of the vertical tunnel and Vanille was the first to speak.

"Did we get 'em?" She asked with a rather cheerful tone.

"We got _one_ of them," Lightning replied calmly.

"They're still behind us!" Hope shouted with a panicked tone.

Lightning took control of the ship and started making us weave though old, run down, and most likely abandoned, buildings. Sazh yelled for her to stop, which worked as well as telling a rock to write poetry. Lightning continued to make us weave through the old buildings and shortly after the first time Sazh yelled.

"Hey! I said stop!" He batted her hands away as we came to another crevice "You _want_ to die?" Lightning quickly got back in her seat as Sazh pulled the ship into another vertical rise.

"How are you gonna lose them?" Hope asked in his panic.

"You've got me, kid!" Sazh shouted back to Hope.

"Then let me!" Lightning shouted to Sazh.

"No, thank you!" Sazh replied.

When we left the crevice we were greeted by white clouds, blue sky and the very bright sun. We all fell silent at the sight. It was a rather relaxing sight to see, well, it would have been if bullets didn't fly beside us.

"They're still on us?" Sazh asked with surprise. He slammed to full speed and started weaving through clouds to lose them. One of the small craft passed infront of us and began to shoot from the side. The airship rocked as we were hit "We're taking hits!" Sazh shouted to us. He angled the ship downwards towards a river. He pulled the ship out of its dive right before we slammed into the surface. The small craft continued to follow and shoot at us "Come on, give me a break!" Sazh shouted out of annoyance.

After a few moments of following the river canyon, Sazh yelled for us to hang on. He pushed a button and bullets flew from our ship and hit the top of natural arch way. It started to crumble the very moment after we passed underneath it. I heard an explosion which meant at least one of our pursuers had been destroyed. After a while of flying at full speed and no one speaking, Sazh spoke again.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

"For the love of all that's good!" Sazh said in relief as he slowed the ship.

"Next, an update on the status of the Purge," A female voice from the screen in front of each of the seats said "Just moments ago, the Sanctum announced the successful conclusion of the Purge along with the safe arrival of the Cocoon migrants to their new homes on Pulse," The screen changed to a close up of Primarch Dysley and he began to speak.

"Yes, that is correct," He said calmly "There's no denying the enormity of the strain the Purge placed on us all. But, given the tens of millions of lives at stake, there truly was no alternative," The screen changed back to the news room but there was a male reporter on screen now.

"Primarch Dysley stood by the move, stressing the necessity of the relocation. When asked about the possibility of future Purges, the Primarch remained noncommittal stating only that he'd seek counsel with the fal'Cie Eden and weigh all options before making a decision."

"Yeah, that's right," Sazh said in a mocking tone after pushing a button to interrupt the broadcast "If it makes the Sanctum look bad, it never happened," Out of the corner of my eye I saw Vanille push a button to resume the broadcast. It had switched back to the Primarch.

"In all the centuries since the War of Transgression Cocoon has been spared Pulse aggression, and prospered for it. It is essential that we maintain this peace. That is the Sanctum's focus. We will continue employing every resource available to combat these threats to the harmony of our society," I could barely here Sephiroth chuckling for some reason.

"Meaning we will be running for the rest of our lives," Sazh commented to us.

"Hey," Vanille said to Sazh "Umm, who is this guy?" Sazh sighed loudly before speaking.

"I mean, what do they teach kids these days?" He asked the air "He's Galenth Dysley. The Sanctum Primarch. Murderer-in-chief," Sazh said the last part rather quietly. The screen had gone back to the female reporter and she had started talking about something related to the Purge.

"Just another tool of the fal'Cie," I commented quietly. The reporter kept talking about some poll that said the majority of people support Purging.

"Moths to a flame," Sephiroth had said flatly. I knew that he knew that we all heard him.

"What?" Sazh asked without looking.

"If there is a threat, and a way to dispose of the threat is provided," Sephiroth started to explain "People will gather behind it, no matter how brutal. Just like Moths to a flame."

"Then let's Purge everybody," Sazh said with an angry tone "That'll fix it!" After he spoke a red light strated flashing and an alarm went off. Shots flew by the ship and Sazh slammed it to full speed.

"Points for perseverance!" He said loudly. It suddenly became very bright as Sazh steered us towards Phoenix. I heard Vanille and Aerith murmur their amazement "A Sanctum fal'Cie up close and personal. Cocoon's own light in the sky," The ship jumped to one side as shots impacted on the opposite side "Here we go again," Sazh commented quietly. An idea for how to lose our followers appeared in my mind.

"Fly in," I told Sazh "We'll lose them in there," Sazh agreed wordlessly as he took us very close to the fal'Cie. A short while of weaving through very dangerous streams of light we heard an explosion.

"I like this fal'Cie!" Sazh shouted after the explosion.

"There's more of 'em!" Vanille shouted in a scared tone.

The ship shook violently and turned into a nose dive. The engine had been hit by either one of our pursuers or one of the countless streams of light. It didn't matter what hit us though, we were going down fast. It was unlikely that all of us would even survive the landing now.

**Yay! Another chapter done! Many more to go . . .**

**I have to say that this story will probably be updated faster now because it is a higher priority than two of my other three stories. One of my stories (Remnants of the Past) has stalled on me. I am just having a severe lack of something. I have my inspiration and motivation to write it but I just can't for some reason (most likely just garden variety writers block).**

**Anyways, future suggestions for this story (which one do you like most):**

**Light/Seph**

**Fang/Seph**

**Light/Seph/Fang (I'll need help with this one)**

**Please Review. It reminds me that my efforts are not being wasted.**


	8. Chapter 8

**To those who saw the Announcement chapter: Don't forget to read chapter 7**

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

I heard fire crackling and knew that our ship had crashed. My face felt cold even though there was fire. I assumed that I had been thrown out of the ship when it hit . . . the ground? If it hit the ground there would be no chance of survival. So the ship must have hit and stopped on a slope of some kind.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw flickering light around me. It took me a few moments to even notice that my vision was blurry, it made me realize that I must have hit my head rather hard. I went to wipe my eyes but as soon as my fingers touched my forehead I felt a pain rip through my head. I ignored the pain and put my hand against my forehead for a second a took a look at it.

Yep, just I thought, a large cut was there, the amount of blood on my gloved hand told me that.

I heard movement and look over at it. It was Lightning pushing herself off the ground. She put her hand to her head and looked down at Hope, who was beside her. She reached down and shook the boy.

"Hey," She said quietly to him.

I heard something walking on the rocks and quickly scanned the area for the Masamune. I saw that Lightning had heard the noise as well. We both got to our feet and watched a few red militarized wolf-like creatures swarm into the area. I saw the soft light of the moon reflect off of something and noticed that my sword was behind the creatures. I told myself to tie the Masamune to my wrist so this would stop happening.

Lightning and I heard Vanille shouting her efforts to wake up the others. Vanille and Sazh were soon at our sides and we started to combat the creatures.

After a few moments of spell slinging, slashing, shooting and punching, the creatures were dead. Vanille let out a long loud sigh.

"Glad that's over," She said as she folded her weapon to put it away. A thought quickly rushed forward in my mind, what was Vanille's weapon? It was a question that would I would answer later.

I walked over to my sword picked it up and turned to everyone. Vanille, Sazh, and Aerith were sitting on the ground, recovering, Hope was standing close to them and Lightning was walking in my direction. I noticed that all of us had countless tiny cuts and bruises and several large ones.

"What, no break?" Sazh asked Lightning as she walked by him.

"They're tracking us," Lightning replied in the classic soldier tone.

"I know that," Sazh snapped back "I know that," Sazh repeated in a nicer tone "But we aren't soldiers! We don't have your kind of stamina."

"You've got enough to complain," Lightning said back in a cold tone.

She was beginning to sound like I did at one time. I let a smirk appear on my face but no one would see it because of the dim light and my hair. Lightning continued walking and passed me.

"Oh, that's-!" Sazh started to argue but gave up "Forget it!" He shouted and it went quiet.

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

We watched Lightning walk away and Sephiroth follow soon after. Hope walked in front of us and started speaking.

"I think, umm . . ." Hope went silent.

"I'd stick with her if I were you," Sazh said to the boy.

"Later then," Hope said before jogging after the two warriors.

I saw Lightning climb over an object at the end of a make-shift bridge. Sephiroth sped up slightly and jumped over it. I turned towards Vanille getting up and standing in front of us.

"Come on. Let's get going," She said in a soft voice.

"Get going to where, exactly?" Sazh asked after letting his head drop down "The whole of Cocoon's against us. No matter how far we run, there's no escape. That Cie'th clock, it's still a-tickin'."

"There's still time," I said calmly to Sazh.

"You give up to easy, old man!" Vanille said while she leaned over in front of Sazh.

"I'm not giving up," Sazh said to defend himself "But there are some things that you just can't change. Kids like you would not understand," I giggled quietly to myself at his last point.

"Yeah, I'm a kid!" Vanille said in a mocking tone "I don't understand!" Vanille turned away from Sazh and crossed her arms in a fake pout.

"Well I guess we can be fugitives together," Sazh said as he stood up. I stood as well, seeing as how I was the last one sitting. Sazh stumbled slightly when he stood and bumped Vanille, who yelped in surprise "You ready?" Sazh asked the girl.

"Ready!" Vanille said enthusiastically. She went behind him and started pushing him in the direction the others went. With my staff in hand, I jogged to keep up with them as Vanille pushed Sazh and they laughed.

The three of us were about to go on the bridge the other three had crossed but we saw the large gear like object move. It moved a second time and started rolling towards us. It got half way down the bridge when the bridge gave out and fell into the greenish pond.

"Oh no," Vanille whined.

"End of the road," Sazh said as he shook his head.

"But at least it's not the end of the line," I said to the two.

"Stuck with two energetic young girls," Sazh mumbled to himself "A lot of people would kill to be here. I'm gonna have trouble keeping up with 'em," I giggled at what he said.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

I had tried to get ahead of Lightning but she insisted on keeping pace with me. So we had wordlessly agreed that both of us, and at the same time neither of us, would take point. We both stopped at the sound of rapid footsteps. I looked over my right shoulder, Lightning looked over her left and we both saw Hope running up to us.

"Just you?" We said in unison with the same soldier tone.

"For now, I guess," Hope replied to us "Should we wait?"

"They'll catch up," Lightning said as she started walking.

"Eventually," I stated as I started walking.

The three of us walked in silence for many minutes. I let my mind wander for the first time since I woke up in this world. I started thinking about Hope, I saw that he was very similar to me when I was that age. Similar in look, that is. I also thought it would be too much for him to handle if he were to take the life of another. I vowed to myself that as long as I could do something about it, he would never have the blood of another on his hands. I did not want him to have a mental breakdown and do something that would result in the injury of Lightning or I.

"All the junk around here came from Pulse, didn't it?" Hope asked, being the first to speak since he joined us.

"I would assume so," Lightning replied flatly.

Those were the only words spoken until we met a couple of militarized wolf-like creatures. They were like red ones from earlier, but these were green and they a sort of prong-like horn. Lightning and I made short work of the creatures, well Lightning took a bit longer than I.

We travelled quickly through the 'junk heaps' as Lightning and Hope called them. The three of us made short work of any creatures we happened upon and quickly set out after each encounter. I was starting to have flashbacks to the missions to Wutai, but I did not allow them to distract me at all.

Around one corner we encountered some kind of military drones. Like all the creatures before now, we destroyed the drones in little to no time. I almost allowed a thought about how easy this was to come forward but I knew that we would come across enemies that were much stronger than these pitiful creatures and drones. I was hoping that that time would come quickly because my abilities were being wasted on these pathetic excuses for combat.

I had drifted into an unconscious fighting style. I had let my instincts take over as I put my conscious mind to the task of trying to figure out what exactly my mission and our Focus were. The Focus was easy to determine from what I knew about this world. We are currently on Cocoon, the enemy of Pulse, we were 'branded' by a Pulse fal'Cie, which made our focus painfully obvious. Or so I thought, I reminded myself that there are times when opposing forces combine to destroy a common threat.

My mission, given by the being that sent me here, was to change. I had to re-become what I once was, a hero. That is much easier said than done in this situation.

I was so tuned into my thoughts that I almost did not notice the very large obstacle that was right in front of us. The obstacle was a very tall wall that was easily climbable for someone like me.

"Dead end," Hope said casually "Guess we have to go back."

I looked back at Hope and saw that he was very tired. I had completely forgotten he was just a normal teen age boy with the way he had insisted on fighting. Me and Lightning continued towards the wall and Hope had stopped.

"Wait, Can we get through this way, you think?" Hope asked us "You . . . know where you're going right?"

"I've been here on missions before," Lightning stated to the boy. She threw me a look that said 'how bout you?' Hope spoke before I had to fabricate an answer.

"Missions? Nothing to do with the Purge, though?"

"The Purge is PSICOM's baby,"Lightning stated as she turned away from the boy "Our military is split into two arms. The Public Security and Intelligence Command, known as PSICOM and the Guardian Corps. I was Guardian Corps, Bodhum Security Regiment," Lightning had climbed onto a razed platform of ground while she spoke. I considered what she had just said and noticed that this world was getting to be quite similar to Gaia.

"Wait, but I don't get it," Hope said interrupting Lightning "If you're not PSICOM, then why did you board the train?"

"For Serah," Was Lightning's reponse.

"You're telling me that you got on that train so you could save your sister?" Hope asked. I thought it was a rational decision for Lightning to try to save her sister, or try to "That's crazy. I could never do something like that."

"It's not a question of can or can't. There are some things in life you just do," Lightning also said to the boy.

"Easy for someone like you to say," Hope said with a sullen tone.

"You'd be surprised at what people will do for their family," I said to the boy, speaking from experience.

Lightning began climbing the wall and was going to do the same. I jumped to an area just above Lightning with a small push of my legs. I calculated the rest of the vertical distance and figured I could at the top in two jumps.

"Lightning! Sephiroth!" Hope shouted in surprise at us simply leaving him. Lightning and I were over the top soon after Hope spoke.

**One more chapter down.**

**About this chapter, it was either four pages or eight pages so I split it. Okay so here is another thing I want people to think about:**

**Should I bring in one, two, all three or none of Seph's friends. His friends being Angeal, Genesis and Zack. Very brief summary of the three (in my opinion): A is like Fang, G is like Lightning and Z is like Vanille.**

**A, G, and Z are LIKE the other characters. Not the same, just similar. I was asking if I should bring in the others because the plot will be altered depending on what the decision is.**

**Again, the choices are:**

**Angeal, Genesis, Zack.**

**One, two, all, or none**

**Please let me know and leave a Review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Remember, these events are happening simultaneously with each other (Events with Light, Hope, Seph and Sazh, Vanille, Aerith)**

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

After walking through the area that reminded me of home for a while we found some high ledges that we had to climb to proceed. Vanille and I went first and Sazh stood back with his back to us.

"One, two, three . . . Up we go!" Vanille said as we climbed the first ledge and she giggled afterwards.

"What are you up to?" I heard Sazh mumble and I assumed he turned around "Hey . . ." Sazh mumbled shortly before his chocobo made a loud 'kwee' sound. Sazh made a strange that made me laugh "Wait up!" Sazh shouted "Can't keep up these girls!"

We went through this Midgar slums like area with some difficulty. The three of us were not really fighters, so it was most likely that both Sazh and Vanille were thinking about wanting to be with Light and Sephiroth.

The one thing that gave us the most problems were the ancient Pulsian machines. Sazh was the one to call the strange one armed machines Pulsian. After a few fights we found a dead end with a strange machine.

"Never seen a rig like this before," Sazh commented.

"Then I don't think we should touch it," I said wanting to avoid any unnecessary trouble.

"There is no where else for us to go though," Vanille pointed out.

"Well, here we go then," Sazh said as he flipped the switch on the machine.

The machine started up, the thing on the top spun and glowed blue and something launched off the front. The launched thing latched onto the large thing blocking our path and started pulling it towards us.

"Whoa," Sazh said calmly "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sazh shouted as the large thing kept moving but stopped right in front of the machine "I knew that would happen," Sazh said quickly making me and Vanille giggle.

After many more fights we found an area with a large wall and Hope sitting in the middle.

"Hey! Hope!" Vanille shouted as she ran up ahead "We made it!" Vanille panted. I was breathing heavily but I wasn't actually tired. Due to the journey with Cloud a few years ago.

"Where's Grumpy and Silver?" Sazh asked Hope, who just motioned towards the wall with his chin "Got left behind, huh?" Sazh commented more than asked.

Sazh put his hand on Hope's back and Hope swatted it away, stood up and moved away from Sazh.

"Leave me alone!" Hope said louder than normal, but didn't shout "This is pointless. Can't keep up. Can't get home. It's over for me."

"It's not over," Vanille said cheerfully.

"We'll get you home!" I continued. I did not like seeing people sad at all. Sadness reminded me too much of home.

"I don't have one. Now that Mom is-" Hope stopped talking but I knew what he was going to say because of the world I came from. In a world like Gaia used to be, you learn to know when people try to mention death but can't.

"What about your dad?" Vanille asked. I instantly thought that that was a bad idea.

Hope spoke about a night in a town called Bodhum. How he was with his mother and his father could not be present at the time. Hope finished the story of the night with how the fal'Cie thing was found in the Vestige and that soldiers sealed the town and he and his mother could not get back to Palumpolum.

"They forced us onto the train with everyone else. My mom, she was frantic. She wanted to get us home, so she tried to fight," Vanille moved towards Hope, I thought she was going to give him a hug. Hope continued "She got tricked by Snow. He used her!"

I just knew that what he said at the end was not true. I wanted to tell him that it was in no way Snow's fault but I would not be able to say why. It would be hard to explain that I was a Cetra and what that meant. Of course, now that I think of it, I am surprised that I can talk to this world in the same way as Gaia. I guess the abilities of the Cetra were not limited only to Gaia.

"Let's get you home, okay?" Vanille said to Hope "Your dad's got to be worried!"

"Let him worry," Hope snapped at her "Why should I care? He doesn't."

"Any father cares," Sazh said quietly.

"Sazh?" Vanille and I asked in unison.

"It's nothing, forget it," He said, turning away. He walked over to another pulling machine and me and Vanille guided Hope over the machine.

The machine grabbed an object and pulled it out from its alcove. The object it pulled was going to help us climb the wall.

"We've got time," Sazh said calmly "We'll get you back home. Your dad will be happy to see you."

The four of us climbed up the path that was beside the wall will ease. I was silently hoping that we would rejoin Light and Sephiroth soon. I had confidence in all our abilities but it was always nice to have a soldier or SOLDIER member in the group.

There was only a few enemies blocking our path, a few live ones anyway. There were many enemies that were shot, cut, and sliced cleanly in half. It was always easy to tell what enemies Sephiroth killed.

After a while we saw a huge object in the distance. I looked at it for a few moments and came to the conclusion that I didn't even have the slightest clue as to what it could be.

"Isn't that a-?" Vanille started to ask.

"A warship from Pulse," Sazh answered.

"You mean, they made it this far?" Vanille asked. She seemed almost happy about that. There was something telling me that she was from Pulse and she did not want us to know. Though I could be wrong.

"Of course not," Sazh said "Not during the war, not since. They might have tried. But none of their forces made it into Cocoon. They only damaged the outer rim. Then the Sanctum's fal'Cie pushed them back. What, did you sleep through History?"

"More or less," Vanille laughed.

"So, what's a ship from Pulse doing here?" I asked with an innocent tone.

"Once the war was over, people couldn't live near the rim anymore," Hope explained "In places like the Hanging Edge. So the fal'Cie, they gathered up scrap from Pulse, and used it for rebuilding here. This is what was left: a bunch of garbage."

"Who'da thunk? A Pulse fal'Cie and who-knows-what, mixed in with all the trash?" Sazh commented.

"Who'da thunk . . ." Vanille said flatly. That confirmed my suspicion of her being from Pulse. I would let tell everyone though. I guess someone being from Pulse is more believable than where me and Sephiroth are from: an entirely different world, with some similarities.

After a long walk and the occasional enemy we were going up a ramp onto a large platform and Lightning landed in front of us. She must have jumped down from the ledge above us.

"Hey, welcome to the party!" Sazh said with a cheerful voice.

"You miss us?" Vanille nearly shouted. Lightning just sighed before continuing on the path. I knew the sigh could have been an upfront no.

"Would it kill her to smile?" Sazh said before following her. Something occurred to me right away.

"Lightning?" I asked loudly so she would hear me "Where is Sephiroth?"

"He said he was clearing the path."

Those were the last words that were spoken for a long time. The four of us walked through the the trash heaps, as Hope and Sazh called them. We climbed when we had to, and stepped over what was left of many creatures. It was the longest I walked in a long time but I kept going.

We were about to round a corner when we heard a very loud bang. We raced around the corner and the second corner and saw Sephiroth fighting a massive machine. It looked like one of Shinra's sweepers but many times bigger and it had hands instead of guns.

"What is that?" Sazh shouted, referring to the giant sweeper.

"Pulse armament," Lightning said calmly as she whipped out her sword.

Sephiroth ran towards it, thrust his sword at the bottom of the mech and got his word tangled in the chains. He tried to pull his sword free for one moment to long and was not able to dodge the machines arm. Sephiroth was sent across the area, slammed into the wall with a loud crack and did not get up.

"And that's bad for us, isn't it?" Sazh asked Lightning. I was not sure if he was still talking about the machine or that Sephiroth had just been knocked out.

"You have eyes, don't you?" Lightning said with a harsh tone.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

"_So, where are we going?" Zack, the puppy, asked me._

"_A small town at the foot of Mount Nibel," I replied as the truck went over a bump._

"_Nibleheim," The small soldier in the back added "My hometown."_

"_What was our mission again?" Zack asked me._

"_We are just going to investigate a leak in the reactor," I replied to him "It shouldn't take us more than a day or two. And why are you so happy?"_

"_I was given new materia before we left and I haven't been able to try it out yet," Zack explained to me._

"_Well don't get your hopes up," I said to him "This is a routine mission. So I doubt anything will happen." _I couldn't even fathom how wrong I was.

The memory blurred as I opened my eyes and the area came into focus. I pushed myself off the ground and saw a large hole where the massive machine used to be. I scanned the area because I knew that the others must have defeated the thing and I was hoping that I did not lose the Masamune for the third time.

I took two steps before almost falling over from a mixture of feeling dizzy and the pain in my head, legs and torso. I forced myself to keep walking towards the hole and saw the others sitting on the ground beside the wrecked machine. I stepped off the edge, landed on my feet beside them and had an enormous amount of pain shoot through my legs. But once again, I forced myself to stay on my feet. I would not show any weakness in front of these . . . humans.

I saw that they had untangled my sword from the chains of the machine. So, I went over, picked it up and nodded my thanks to the group. I turned away from them and started towards the path out of this hole when I heard someone stand up.

"Don't even pretend that you are not hurt after what happened to you," Aerith said in a worried tone. Shortly after she spoke I felt a surge of energy and some of the pain was eliminated. I said my thanks, as half hearted as it was, and continued on.

As soon as we were out of the narrow tunnel that was connected to the hole that was the grave of the massive machine, that greatly reminded me of the Shinra sweepers, Lightning ran up ahead. She had said that she was going to scout ahead and after what happened to me I thought that it was a bad idea. A lot of walking, turning and not one enemy later we found a very large ruin. A small part of me said that it was once a battleship, I did not question that part, ever. We walked up to the ruin and took a break, which I was glad to have. For the first time in my life I had wanted to take a long break.

**Okay here is what the voting looks like: It is almost unanimous for Light/Seph. So I'll use that pairing. And with A, G, and Z, so far it seems like people want all three, but I'm thinking I'll use A and G**

**So pairing voting: closed**

**Who I should bring in: still open**

**Please leave a Review.**


	10. Chapter 10

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

I opened my eyes, only to realize that i had fallen asleep for a little while. I had a dream about the times when I was still in SOLDIER. I had dreamed about, well more like remembered, one of the many time Genesis, Angeal and I had gone into the training simulator after hours. The more I thought of them the more depressed I felt, so I pushed the memory into the back of my mind.

I looked around and only saw Aerith sitting near me. I could just hear the other four, Sazh and Lightning were talking, and Hope and Vanille were talking. What the others were talking about I wasn't sure and assumed it wasn't important.

"Are you okay?" Aerith asked me with a worried tone.

"I have received two head injuries that would have killed regular people," I pointed out, letting Aerith's finish what I was saying.

"I mean emotionally," I knew my face had contorted to a look of confusion for a split second "You are supposed to be stepping away from the SOLDIER role. If you don't you will be punished for your crimes or simply become a Cie'th."

"I'm supposed to stop being a soldier? Even though we could have been killed more than a thousand times already?" I had let my tone take an edge by accident.

"That's not what I meant," Aerith replied quietly "I meant, that in order to change you have to let people in. You have to try to befriend these people."

"Just what I need. Two kids to watch out for, a pilot who is not trained for combat in any way, and a former soldier that is hell bent on avenging her sister," I noticed that the edge was getting sharper and more anger had slipped into my voice.

"Give it some time, Sephiroth. I'm sure that all of them will earn your respect eventually."

Something clicked in my mind as she spoke to me.

"Your not truly a l'Cie, are you? I was reincarnated into this world. You weren't, were you?" I asked the half-Cetra girl.

"Why do you say that?" Aerith asked back "Because your wrong with both."

"Just a suspicion," I replied keeping my tone in check this time. I was assuming she was lying to me.

Two quetions came up in my mind, Why weren't Angeal or Genesis with me? And, why this world? I'm sure there are hundreds of other worlds I could have wound up on. Why place me on a world with so many similarities to Gaia? I knew that if I did not force myself to forget these questions they would impair my mentality.

"This isn't a game!" I heard Sazh shout.

Aerith and I got to our feet a to go see what was going on. When we found the other four Lightning was in the middle of speaking.

"And the Sanctum's hunting me, an enemy of the state. But who's pulling their strings?" Lightning looked up towards a brightly glowing object in the sky "A fal'Cie. Eden. Cocoon's Sustainer and Guiding Light. It probably ordered the Purge, too. Pulse and Sanctum fal'Cie? They're all the same. And we're all the same to them: expendable. I'm not dying a fal'Cie slave."

"So? What are you gonna do?" Sazh asked Lightning.

"Destroy it," Lightning's response made me remember the time in Nibleheim.

What I learned about myself had made begin to hate everything. I hated the people who had lied to me, abandoned me, feared me, humanity as a whole, and the world itself. I hated everything so much I had wanted to destroy it. I would have destroyed myself but it was Jenova that drove me to summoning Meteor. I knew right away that if Lightning continued on her current mental path, she would end up destroying her self.

"By yourself?" Sazh asked "What, are you crazy? Say you pull it off, hmm? What's that get you? Satisfaction? Something happens to Eden, it's lights out Cocoon!" Sazh then had an expression of just figuring something out "You _want_ that. You're a Pulse l'Cie now, so just want to snuff out Cocoon!"

"No!" Vanille shouted "What about Serah?"

"She said to save Cocoon!" Aerith added, with a half shout.

"It might even be our Focus to make sure Cocoon stays-" Vanille tried to say, but Lightning cut her off.

"Our Focus doesn't matter," She said with an angry tone "I don't take orders from fal'Cie. How I live is up to me."

"Don't you mean how you die?" I said unintentionally. I didn't even realize I said it out loud until Lightning responded.

"Think like that, and it's already over. Better to pick your path and keep moving," Lightning turned to make eye contact with all of us "Don't worry. I'm after the Sanctum. I'm not out to destroy the world. If it did come to that, wonder if our 'hero' would try to stop me?"

"You want to fight Snow now?" Sazh asked with a subtle hint of anger "Just like that and your enemies?"

"Smaller things have caused friends to kill each other," I pointed out. I was referring Angeal, Genesis and I. Each time I brought them up I felt more depressed, but as usual I shoved the thoughts back into the shadows of my mind.

"Next time we meet, we might be too," Lightning said before walking off the ruin and away from us.

I started off after her because I definitely did not want to be near Aerith at the moment. I was fairly deep in depression at the moment and she had a sixth sense for when people were feeling depressed. I heard Hope yell something about Snow before heading after Lightning as well.

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

We, as in Sazh, Vanille and I, watched Lightning walk away with Sephiroth following, and Hope shortly after. I knew that Sephiroth was following her so he could keep Lightning from hurting herself, because she was standing at the top of a very slippery slope. At least I hoped that Sephiroth would ensure her safety.

"I don't know what I should do," Vanille whined.

"That makes two of us," Sazh commented.

"Three," I corrected.

Vanille turned to and hit Sazh on the back. The hit made Sazh stumble an inch closer to the edge and yelp in surprise.

"Hey! You're taking care of _us_," She said in a happy tone.

"Well I won't be if you keep pushing me like that," Sazh said to get a laugh out of us. He succeeded.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

Sephiroth and I had been walking in silence since we left. Once again we heard someone running up to us.

"Wait for me!" I heard Hope yell to us. He stopped and started breathing heavily "I'm going with you."

"I can't babysit you anymore," I said to the boy.

"I can fight. I'm not afraid," Hope said back to me. I swear I heard Sephiroth huff.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sephiroth turn around and flip his sword around from behind him. I turned as well and saw five PSICOM troops with their guns ready.

"Great, a PSICOM hit squad," I said rather loudly.

The soldier in the middle held up a small detonator and pushed the button. An explosion sounded from behind us. The archway of rubble that we had come through collapsed cutting us off from Sazh, Vanille, and Aerith.

Sephiroth and I charged at the PSICOM soldiers intending to kill them all before they could kill us. I easily cut down two of them before to long saw two get shocked and was expecting Sephiroth to finish them off. He killed one of them and stumbled, I guess the wounds he had from earlier will still affecting him. I ended the other two, while just barely dodging their shots. I felt six, no, eight bullets graze my arms and legs as I flipped through the air towards the two remaining soldiers. I shot one half way through my flip, and slashed the others chest when I landed.

I put away Blaze Edge and turned to Hope.

"Not bad," I commented to the boy.

"Really? Thanks," Hope replied with a stutter. I thought I saw a small blush on his face but I assumed it was the light from the fire messing with my vision. I turned to Sephiroth who had his hand over the place where his ribs met.

"Here," I said as I sent a healing spell to him "Don't push your limits," I saw a ghost of a smile appear on his face, but it did not stay for long.

I quickly made eye contact with the two and the nodded in response. I turned back to the pile of rubble and I realized that I was kind of worried about the other three. They did not have either Me or Sephiroth to ensure their safety, but they would be okay. I hoped.

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

Sazh Vanille and I had seen the explosion and I knew we were all thinking the same thing: I hope their okay. I knew that Sephiroth and Lightning would be fine, but Hope did not even come close to their physical abilities; So I hoped that Sephiroth would go easy on him.

"Uh-oh. Army's out to play," Sazh commented to no one.

"What now?" Vanille asked calmly.

"What now?" Sazh repeated, seeming to be at a loss for words "Well, we could stay here, but shouldn't we-"

"We hope that they will be fine and continue on our own way," I said to them.

"Run?" Vanille suggested "We should run. If we rush in now, we'll just get in her way."

"You know, you're both right," Sazh agreed "I guess. I mean it's not like Lightning or Sephiroth need any help."

"Sephiroth doesn't need _physical_ help," I muttered under my breath.

Sazh looked to both of us, gave us a nod and started away from the others. I was really worried about Sephiroth, when he was asleep he had muttered something about Genesis and Angeal, and when he had left I saw the sadness in his eyes. It was a subtle sadness, the type that you can tell someone is trying to hide. I was not worried about him breaking down and crying in front of anyone, I was worried about the larger possibilities.

I knew that in Sephiroth's mind there was a wall with him balancing on top of it. On the two sides of the wall were Sephiroth the hero, and the One Winged Angel of Death. When the wall in his mind came down, it would be important for him to have someone there for him, to help him fall on the hero side.

But the only people he had with him now were a soldier and a kid. The soldier would only rile up the angel and the boy would not be able to have any influence over the outcome. Unless Sephiroth were to open up to them.

All I could do was pray for their safety.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

"There will be more soldiers," Hope stated to Lightning and I "We should keep moving," I was glad the kid was a fast learner. It was going to make looking after him much easier.

"Lightning?" Hope asked as he turned to face the woman, as did I "Are you worried about the others? I'm sure they got away okay."

"So can you, if you leave now," Lightning said flatly to Hope after turning to him "With me, it'll be fight after fight. I don't know how it'll end. It's anybody's guess."

"I know that," Hope replied, hanging his head "But – I need to be stronger," It had just dawned on me that she also tried discouraging me from going with her. I knew that she knew that she was not getting me to stay behind. After all, I was supposed to be helping her.

"Lightning?" Hope asked after a moment of silence.

"Call me Light," Lightning replied, to the both of us, I was assuming.

"What's the plan from here?" Hope asked the soldier.

"Through the Gapra Whitewood to Palumpolum," She said to both of us "We'll find transport to Eden."

"I live in Palumpolum," Hope stated cheerfully as he looked between me and Lightning "I can show you all the shortcuts."

"No unnecessary side trips," I said to Hope. He turned to me before continuing.

No need. I don't think l'Cie are welcome at home."

**I felt that was a good point to stop for now.**

**I really don't have much to say right now. Except, if you are a fan of Soul Calibur, read my newest story. Yes, I have started another one, which makes it so i am juggling FOUR stories right now.**

**Please Review.**


	11. Chapter 11

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

We had gone through many fights with militarized creatures, military drones, things from Pulse, and simply strange creatures. I had been focused on the fight the whole time so I wouldn't think about any of the other things that could have been plaguing my mind.

Hope had been performing well, I could see the potential in him. The potential to be a force to be reckoned with. But the story was different with Sephiroth. He was already a force to be reckoned with, which made me fear for his future. I had also noticed that he had the look of thoughtfulness most of the time, usually if someone has that look for a while, it means there is something eating away at them.

Then again, maybe he was just trying to figure out the best way to kill something. How was I to know what was happening inside his mind?

After a long while of mostly fighting, we came across an area with a patchwork structure at the end of it. The structure was an oddly shaped, steel mess, and failure of a wall. There was a gorge behind it, so we went around the corner to see if the path continued down that way.

"Any trace of the l'Cie?" We heard a PSICOM officer ask. We hid behind a nearby rock that was jutting out of the wall.

"Nothing. No sign it's been activated," Another PSICOM officer replied.

I went to step back from my position but my foot landed on something odd. Hope making a small yelp told me what it was, his foot. The PSICOM troops heard the noise and shouted 'Who's there?' before running over to us.

Me jumping out scared the first one, which had a baton. I used his surprise to my advantage and cut him down within a second of landing. Sephiroth used the exact same tactic with the other one. Both soldiers were dead moments after they noticed us.

We saw what the PSICOM troops were talking about shortly before their demise. Another machine like the one that had knocked out Sephiroth earlier. Except this one was shut off and was unlikely to attack us if we got close.

Hope climbed up the small ledge to the machine and started examining it.

"What was PSICOM doing here?" Hope asked as he wandered closer to the machine.

"Probably thought we'd try and use a Pulse machine to escape," I wondered aloud.

"Maybe we should try it," Hope suggested "What does this do?" I heard him ask himself.

"Hey, You're gonna hurt yourself!" I called to Hope.

"You shouldn't be touching that!" Sephiroth called.

"Wait. What if it works?" Hope argued. A moment later the machines engine gunned to life and it stood up. I heard Hope yelping in surprise.

"Tch, I told you to leave it," I muttered.

"Stop!" Hope shouted after the machine took two steps "Stop already!" Hope started to pound what I assumed to be the controls, the machine stopped moving. Hope then said something which I couldn't hear over the machine "Light!" I heard that though "I think I can work this!"

I walked over the very poor wall at the end of the area and I noticed something interesting. It was actually a type of draw bridge, it was on a massive hinge of sorts. Hope commanded the machine to knock down the bridge so we could continue.

Sephiroth and I fell in behind the machine. I knew that he was glad that we got a break from fighting. I saw that he was still deep in thought about something. I was starting to become curious about what he had been thinking about so deeply.

Roughly two minutes of walking and watching enemies get ploughed out of the way, we met a cliff. I guess Hope didn't see it, somehow, and the machine walked right up to and off the cliff. Hope almost screamed out of surprise as he and the machine fell, when it crashed against the ground I was worried that it had crushed him. I went up the edge and looked over, Hope was sprawled out on the ground near the machine.

"Nice landing," I said loud enough for him to hear me. I jumped ledge to ledge down towards him "Let's get moving," I was expecting him to be hurt and was glad to see that he wasn't.

"Just need a minute," He said with a shaken tone "Still a bit winded," Something slammed into the ground behind me and I knew that it was just Sephiroth landing.

"You're too soft," I said over my shoulder as I began to walk away. Sephiroth was at my side and Hope was lagging behind.

"Wait up!" He called.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

Roughly eighteen minutes after Hope and the machine went over the cliff we came across a waterfall. Hope had suggested getting some water before we continued but i reminded him of the condition of the environment.

I could tell that Hope was getting very tired. It mattered little to me. If he were to fall to far behind, that was it for him. He chose to follow me and Lightning, he should have known that is was highly likely that he would be left behind.

Lightning and I stepped onto the bridge in front of the waterfall, Hope stumbled on the step and fell.

"This isn't working," Lightning said as she turned to Hope "I mean you're a liability. You'll just slow us down." I instantly remembered saying that to Genesis once, just to annoy him.

"What?" Hope said out of surprise. Lightning started walking away.

"I'm sorry, but I can't protect you when-" Lightning grunted, cutting herself off. I was between her and Hope and I could see a faint pinkish glow on her arm.

"You can't leave me here!" Hope shouted "You've got to take me with you!"

"Enough!" Lightning shouted back without turning "The whole world is against us!" Lightning sounded like she was having trouble breathing and she fell to one knee "I can barely keep myself alive. Let alone some helpless kid! I don't have time to baby you," It was clear that she had forgotten about my presence in the heat of the moment "You want to get tough? Do it on your own!"

A bright light flashed at the same moment Lightning finished speaking. The next instant the were very large symbols around her on the ground. She raced off the symbols just before another flash of light. After the flash there was a very tall mechanical knight.

"This cannot be happening!" Lightning shouted with disbelief.

I flipped the Masamune around and stepped between the knight and Hope. It slashed at us but I was able to deflect the blow away from us. Lightning joined me and Hope in front of the knight and we took up our battle stances.

The battle quickly became a hit and run conflict. Both us and it would run up to our opposition try to get a series of attacks to work but have all the attacks blocked. If the knight did not have its shield the fight would be much easier.

After two or three minutes I noticed a difference in the air. It seemed like the air was gathering around the knight for some reason. I quickly deduced that it was collecting energy to unleash some kind of attack that would mean our deaths with no argument.

I knew that Lightning and Hope could not sense the build up of energy around the knight and so I started looking for a way to keep us alive. I did not have the abilities that came with the Jenova cells, I did not have any powerful inherent magic skills, and I didn't have any materia because I had never needed it.

That was when it hit me.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

We could not keep fighting for much longer. All three of us were getting tired, well, Hope was already exhausted. I was starting to feel the effects of fatigue and I could see that Sephiroth had both fatigue and injuries weighing him down.

I looked over to Sephiroth and saw a smirk appear on his face. He closed his eyes and a moment later his sword burst into flame. The fire on his sword was black. Sephiroth's eyes shot open and he charged forward.

When Sephiroth's attack was blocked there was a large and loud explosion. The knight was knocked off its feet and the flames on Sephiroth's sword went out. I ran forward to finish the knight but when I got close it transformed into a horse and had its sword in its mouth.

I was ready to attack when it spoke. It had a deep masculine voice and for some reason I knew that I was the only one that could hear him.

"I am Odin. I now grant thee the power of my blade, Zantetsuken."

In a flash of pink light he vanished. All that was left was a small ruby stone shaped like a rose. I stood studying the stone for a moment but then fatigue hit me like a train and I fell to one knee again.

"Lightning!" Hope shouted and ran over to me "Your brand looks different. Was that an Eidolon? Like l'Cie can summon?"

"Magic and mumbo-jumbo. I must've hit my head on that Purge train," I said trying to make a joke.

Hope opened his mouth to say something but a sound cut him off. The sound was steel clattering on the ground and someone falling down. We looked over and saw Sephiroth lying on the ground. We both shot to our feet and over to him. I checked his pulse and it was very weak but it was there.

"Grab his sword," I said to Hope as I pulled Sephiroth off the ground. For his size, Sephiroth was relatively light.

I found out he wasn't completely unconscious by seeing his eyes open slightly and him assisting me in lifting him. He was able to walk, but just barely. I looked over and saw Hope trying to figure out how to hold the abnormally long sword.

"Am I really in your way?" Hope asked me. I only sighed in response.

"I'll do better! I'll try harder, I'll-"

"Hope," Sephiroth said, surprising me "We'll toughen you up. You're travelling with soldiers, I'll be surprised if you don't toughen up."

"I'm sorry about before," I said over my shoulder to Hope.

After a short while, Sephiroth started refusing my help but didn't take his sword from Hope. On the other side of the bridge we were confronted by two PSICOM troops and assault robots. Sephiroth was unable to do anything, so it was up to me and Hope to deal with this ambush. I summoned Odin to make quick work of the robots after I killed the PSICOM troops.

We took down the PSICOM hit squad and It became impossible for us to continue. I was tired, Hope was exhausted and Sephiroth had done something that had pushed him far over his limit.

"We'll stop here," I said to the boys. Hope apologized for being tired "Don't sweat it," I replied "I'll look around. You two rest up," I said before leaving.

I returned after confirming that it was safe. I saw that both Hope and Sephiroth were asleep. Hope had a small smile on his face.

"Mom?" Hope muttered.

"Not by a long shot," I muttered to myself.

I sat and watched the the two sleep for a long while before closing my eyes in an effort to get some sleep as well.

~~~~Unknown's POV~~~~

"So, you still have the Black Materia," I stated to the air around me "But its price is far too high for your body to handle. Worry not my brother, we shall rejoin as a family soon enough," I leapt into the air and flapped my wing to carry me away from this location.

**Sorry about the wait for this chapter. My schedule has returned to its semi-normal state and I should be able to update more quickly.**

**Anyways, I will include Angeal, Genesis and Zack. I'm not sure though if I should give them l'Cie status or just give them materia.**

**Please Review and if you want you can guess who it was at the end of the chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

"No sign of soldiers," Vanille commented to us as we entered an area that was like an excavation site.

"Guess Lightning and Sephiroth got their attention," Sazh commented as well.

"I do hope Hope is okay," I said to myself more than them. I was also hoping that Sephiroth was okay.

"They were headed towards Palumpolum," Sazh said while pointing in the direction we came from "Kids on his way home. You can bet on it."

"Good for him," Vanille said as she crossed her arms. Sazh began to look worried, Vanille saw it as well.

"Sazh?" I asked quietly.

"What's wrong?" Vanille said after leaning far over to be in front of, and still to the side of, Sazh.

"It's good – if they manage to slip in quietly," I saw what he was trying to get at "All of Cocoon is in the grip of Pulse-phobia. If a l'Cie pops up on radar, all hell will break lose."

"No one knows why they're scared," I said almost whispering, mainly commenting on what Sazh had said.

"Afraid of what they don't know," Sazh replied, answering my statement "Afraid to find out more. Gets worse the older you get. I'm terrified of what will happen. The world would probably be better off without Pulse l'Cie," Me and Sazh could see that Vanille was beginning to look sad "I mean, most of them," Sazh said to save himself and hopefully cheer up Vanille.

"Gee, thanks," Vanille said in her kiddish way. I could not tell if she was being sarcastic or not "Let's go," She almost shouted and she began to push Sazh again.

Every walk way in this area was suspended above a seemingly bottomless canyon. I shivered at the thought of the walk ways collapsing as we walked on it.

The most common creature in this area was a machine version of the flying creatures on Gaia. The red imp like creatures that would explode if to kill predators. The people of Gaia called the creatures Bomb's, so that was what I was going to called the machine version.

There were also the Pulse machines, which Sazh pointed out every time he saw one. Luckily for us, both . . . machines? . . . creatures? . . . No, machines were easily destroyed with magic. The fights were not as common as they could have been but they were still a minor obstacle for us.

At one point we had to walk on a very narrow bridge that was over the 'bottomless' gorge. I was deathly afraid of falling, which made me walk very slowly across it. Vanille had run across it, Sazh had walked at a leisurely pace across and they had to wait, like, five minutes for me.

The walkways lead to a semi-natural walk way through a tiny valley. We fought some creatures after we raced around a corner. The creatures did not look that tough, but we found out that they could use magic. Strong magic. The three of us spent a few minutes healing afterwords.

Around another corner, a very large object came into view. I instantly assumed it was a Mako reactor, because it would make sense for there to be one here. The ground seemed to be dead, very little live creatures around and an abundance of machines. I shook the thought away and reminded myself that Mako reactors only existed on Gaia.

We destroyed all the machines that appeared to be guarding the building. Sazh had done something to the four terminals we came across and the large reactor-like building started up. We didn't know what it had turned on so we explored the area again and saw that the gate at the end of the area had been opened. There were two Bombs and two robots guarding the gate now.

"Big one's not the only thing we woke up, huh?" Sazh commented to me and Vanille.

"We can take 'em!" Vanille encouraged.

The fight was not that difficult, but the three of us did get a few cuts and bruises. Nothing more than our healing magic could handle, thankfully.

There was a cave behind the gate, and since we had nowhere else to go we went in to the almost complete darkness. The cave turned out to be a tunnel because it opened up into an open area where we could see the sky, the water, and a nearby waterfall.

"You must be tired," I heard Vanille say. I assumed to Sazh "Do you need a break?"

"Well, we've gotta sleep somewhere," Sazh commented to us again "This look okay?"

"Uh – yeah!" Vanille replied "Fine by me!"

"I don't mind it," I said to Sazh.

I saw Vanille grab a sheet of some sort off the small ruin in the area and set it on the ground. Once it was spread out to her liking she muttered something to herself.

"Okay, good night!" She said to us while waving.

"Not a care in the world," Sazh commented to me.

We both started walking over to Vanille, and she sat up really quickly. She grabbed a stick and drew a line in the ground, then looked up at Sazh.

"Do not cross this line. Understood?" Vanille said to Sazh.

"Grow up," Sazh said in a slightly annoyed tone. Vanille giggled.

"And good night again!" She said to Sazh. She looked over at me and patted the a spot on the sheet then lie down with her back to us.

"Would you just go to sleep already," Sazh said with his hands on his hips.

I walked over and lay down next to Vanille, with my back to her. Sazh then lay down on the ground with his back to us. I was drifting to sleep when my thoughts turned back towards Sephiroth, I just got a feeling that he was going to need help soon. He was going to need a friend or two soon.

I felt something hit my back and i looked over my shoulder. It was Vanille and it sounded like she was crying. I wondered what was making her cry but i thought it must be the gravity of the situation finally hitting her.

Sleep soon overtook me and my eyes fell closed.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

I looked around the corner of the gate. No enemies were present in the immediate area of the entrance to the Gapra Whitewood. I charged forward to the closest thing to use as cover, which was a very large leaf of one of the trees. I turned back to Hope and Sephiroth and waved them over. They both crossed over to me at a light jog and crouched behind me. Hope was between me and Sephiroth.

"Can't believe we made it," Hope said to me. The ground began to shake, I looked back and saw the gate to the Vile Peaks close.

"That'll slow down pursuit," I said to the two males.

"But aren't there troops on this side?" Hope asked after turning back to me.

"You scared?" Sephiroth said to the boy.

"No, it's just, we can't relax yet," Hope said to defend himself "We should be ready for anything."

"Right," I said as looked to Sephiroth and I can swear I just saw a ghost of a smirk on his face "We press on. I'll take point. You watch our backs," I aimed the last part at Sephiroth. I thought that his sword would be easily seen if he was up front.

"Actually," Hope began "Why don't you let me take point?" I looked at Sephiroth for a second and he shook his head so slightly it was nearly unnoticeable. I looked back at Hope and decided on some words.

"Can you handle it?" I asked calmly. Hope jogged forward until he was in front of me and turned to face me.

"It's not a question of can or can't," Hope said with a small smile. I couldn't help but return the small smile as he repeated my words.

"Now you're learning," I said to him. I heard a sigh from Sephiroth and wondered what it was supposed to mean.

"Keep your eyes forward," Sephiroth said to Hope "I'll watch the rear."

"Got it," Hope replied.

I heard Sephiroth walk up beside me as Hope started walking away from us. I looked over and up at his face and saw that he was looking down at me. Sephiroth had to turn his head fairly far because of his hair. I was oddly fascinated by his silver hair, it had a metallic shine to it.

"Don't let him kill anyone we encounter," He said flatly. I was going to ask why but he must have seen the question in my eyes "He is just a kid, the weight of another life . . ." I saw a very small hint of something in his bright green eyes before he looked forward again " . . . will be too much for him to handle."

Is he starting to worry about Hope? I really doubt it, but it seems like a possibility. That was one of the thoughts that went through my mind as Sephiroth began walking away from me.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

The majority of things we fought were creatures. Militarized creatures and ordinary creatures. There were a few squads of soldiers along the way, but me and Lightning made Hope stay away while we took them out.

I knew that Hope was wanting to prove himself, but I could not allow him to take the life of another being. One of two things would happen. One, the gravity of what he had done would crush his delicate psyche. Two, he wouldn't think about it and start down a path similar to the one that I went down.

Before too long, we happened upon a lift of sorts. Hope, being in front of us the majority of the time so far, turned around to face Lightning.

"Have you ever been here before?" He asked with a flat tone. It made lift an eyebrow slightly because it was the flat tone of one who has been desensitized to the world "On duty, I mean," Hope added quickly. That part had a very small hint of flustered in it.

"No, I haven't," Lightning answered "This area's covered by the Woodlands Observation Battalion," Lightning walked past Hope as she spoke. She stopped and turned to face us. "What about you?" She looked at me as she asked that question "General?"

Hope spun around very quickly. He had a very surprised look, Lightning had a rather cold glare on me. If it was supposed to be intimidating, she really had no idea what i was capable of.

"I've never been here before," They both had a look of scepticism "Being a General is more of a desk job than you think," I added, hopefully stemming their tide of curiosity.

"Then how did you lose your rank?" Lightning asked with a hard tone.

"I snapped during a routine mission," I was not going to say anymore than that "We are wasting too much time, we must keep moving."

I walked forward onto the lift and ignored the fact that Hope was still starring at me with a surprised look. I could hear the two talking about something, but I did not care in the slightest. I was too absorbed in the memory of Nibleheim.

The intense heat of the raging inferno, the smell of blood invading my nostrils, the trail of civilians from the centre of town. I could not remember what I had been thinking at the time. All I could remember was hatred, an enormous amount of hatred for everything.

Before I could sink to far into the past, I forced myself out of the memory. Lightning and Hope stepped onto the lift and I saw that Hope now had a large combat knife clipped on his waistband. Something told me that it belonged to Lightning and it was valuable to her.

Hope pushed a button on the side of the lift and it quickly moved upwards. We arrived at another suspended walkway shortly after the lift started rising. We got off the lift and continued on our way.

~~~~Unknown's POV~~~~

I watched the boy, the soldier and my brother step off the lift and walk underneath the tree limb I was standing on. I had heard their entire conversation due to my hearing that had been enhanced twofold.

"You are covering the truth by revealing part of it?" I commented to myself "You were the best strategic mind of the entire SOLDIER program."

I continued to watch the group of three as they gradually got further away from me. I noticed the combat knife clipped onto the waistband of the boy. I thought nothing of it though.

"You wish to protect the boy, brother? What from? The life that we lead? The life of a soldier? If you keep the boy from taking a life he wont be able to defend himself properly when the time comes."

I could tell that there was something amiss with Sephiroth's demeanour. He looked like he was deep in thought and ready to rest. No, it wasn't rest he was ready for. It was almost as if he was expecting defeat to rear it's hideous face and swallow him whole.

"_Wings stripped away, the end is nigh,_" I quoted as I flapped my wing, to leave this place.

**Sorry again for how long i took to write this chapter.**

**Anyways, care to guess who Unknown is?**

**Please Review. **

**By the way, I thank all of you for the support and the supportive reviews that help me continue this story. I'm happy to know that a Sephiroth/Lightning story is enjoyed by so many.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Concerning my previous AN, I know I made it obvious about who it is. But Hopefully it doesn't take away from the story.**

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

Since we got off the lift, Lightning and Hope had been trying to start a conversation. I knew that it would only be a series of questions about me, my career, and my life. There was no need for them to know anything else about me at this time.

I continued to dodge the questions with quick commands for battle, telling them to be silent because of nearby beasts, and intentionally initiating combat. I was determined to ensure that there was always a reason for me not to speak about myself. I also had my vow of keeping Hope from taking a life.

As we continued on through the Whitewood, I constantly got the feeling that I was being watched. I would look over my shoulder at where I was being watched from. But every time I looked there was never anything there.

I was starting to think that I was once again starting to lose my mind. I kept shaking that thought away but it would return in the same manner as a boomerang.

Hope was supposed to be leading the three of us, but I had taken the position because of them trying to question me. I hadn't been up front for very long before my enhanced senses picked up on a noise. I stopped to try to determine what it was.

"What is it?" Lightning asked, hopefully knowing that I wouldn't stop unless something caught my attention. The noise was growing louder and I began to scan the area for cover.

"We need to hide!" Hope shouted. It became apparent that Hope had better hearing than Lightning.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Hope grab Lightning's wrist and pull her behind one of the very large white leaves. I joined them instantly and we watched a patrol of three, one man vehicles pass by us.

"They don't seem like they're even looking for us," Hope stated to Lightning and I "I mean, we're l'Cie and we're on the loose."

"PSICOM's keeping it all under wraps," Lightning stated, rather harshly I might add "They don't want their failure publicized. Better to lose us than lose their pride."

"So the other soldiers don't know about us. Right?" Hope stated more than asked. He was just confirming what Lightning said.

"Right," Lightning said. I sensed what was coming up "They don't know _anything_ about any fugitives."

"What about a former _General_?" Hope asked. I could hear the intense amount of distrust and feel the heat of his glare.

My mind raced to piece together a story to sate their curiosity. Than I remembered that the best way to lie is to mix a small lie into the truth.

"I doubt there will be anyone that recognizes me. According to government and military records, I ceased to exist nine years ago. Also, my appearance has changed drastically since then," I told the story with a straight face and a calm tone. I hoped they wouldn't try to push the subject anymore.

Almost immediately after our short chat, we happened across another lift. We stepped on and rode it down to another suspended walkway. We turned to head to the right and saw a squad of soldiers at the intersection up ahead. The squad was nothing more than an ordinary patrol group, but they had seen us and began running at us.

The squad stopped about twenty paces away from us and pointed their automatic weapons at us. Lightning and I stepped in front of Hope, fell into our battle stances and waited. We would only attack if they were to shoot first . . . which they did after a few moments.

The shot went wild and almost hit Lightning in the side. Me and her charged at the group of soldiers and I let my senses dominate my conscious mind. For me, the fight was nothing more than motion picture. I knew that I was the one cutting down four of the six soldiers, but it didn't feel like it was actually me doing it.

The fight was over nearly a minute after it began. I knew that Hope had once again not been able to do anything and I was glad about that. I looked at the boy and I noticed that he had noticed that I was purposely trying to keep him from fighting. I have to admit, the boy was actually quite smart.

"Why aren't you letting me fight?" Hope nearly growled at me. I noticed how he was smart enough to stand far enough away so he was only looking a little bit.

"You're not strong enough," Was my reply to his question. I turned to walk away from him but he ran around me and stopped in front of me.

"You don't know how strong I am because your not letting me prove how strong I am!" Hope yelled at me. I noticed that he was now within arms reach.

"Listen Hope," I said calmly "If you take a life, you will be going down a path that leads to a very gruesome death at a young age. That is the life of a soldier, or a serial killer. The only difference between the two is the paycheck."

I couldn't but notice Lightning walking away to be out of earshot. She kept her back turned to us the entire time. I lifted my right hand and placed it on Hope's left shoulder. I pointed to dead soldier with the Masamune and Hope looked at where I was motioning.

"How old would you say that soldier was? Let's say early twenties. Why was he here today? And I don't mean the short term answer of it was his shift, I mean the long term answer of why he was in the military," I let that question sink in for a moment "Was he working to pay for school? Or was he working to pay for an engagement ring? Or maybe he already had a wife, maybe even kids. That would mean he was working to feed his children. Things like that are what haunt soldiers until their death. A death which is usually self-inflicted because of the massive amount of guilt brought upon by those questions. That is why I am keeping you from fighting. I don't want to see a kid go through the mental pain of destroying the very fabric of life for a family," I saw the fierce edge leave Hope's eyes as he actually started to wonder what the answer to those questions were.

I took my hand off his shoulder, turned to my left and started walking away from him and towards Lightning. I couldn't help but think about what I said. It was the first time I had actually stopped to consider those kinds of things.

~~~~Genesis' POV~~~~

I watched Sephiroth talk to the boy and I knew what was soon to come. I knew that since mother was no longer helping Sephiroth stay away from destructive thoughts, he was going to give in to an immense amount of guilt and grief very soon.

I flew up to the walkway's the three had just come from and started preparing. I used my power to conceal my wing, turn my clothing back to what Sephiroth had known and summoned my red rapier. I attached the sheath for it to my belt.

I thought about how this was going to work. If I were to approach Sephiroth alone, he would be very suspicious of me. So, I had to retrieve Angeal before going to 'help' my brother. He would be more likely to believe that the one who had sent him here was trying to help by sending his friends as well.

"Mother, please send Angeal to this world. I will need his assistance to get Sephiroth to rejoin the family," Soon after I spoke my request to our mother a spot on the ground began to glow with a greenish-blue light.

It took a few moments for the unconscious figure of Angeal to completely materialize. At first, I thought it was strange that he did not have the Buster Sword with him. Then I remembered what had happened to it.

I picked an area about four feet away from him and proceeded to lie down on the ground. I shut my eyes and pretended to be unconscious. I knew that Angeal would awake just in time for us to go help Sephiroth, because that is how mother planned it.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

My mind had gone to full power with with the words I had said to Hope. Every face of my countless victims had been going through my mind and I had begun to ask myself many questions.

Why did I do what I did?

What did those people do to deserve to die?

What happened to Genesis and Zack?

Why was it necessary to make Cloud's life a living hell?

Why don't any of my friends get another chance?

But most of all, why do I get a second chance? My crimes are too numerous to count.

I could feel my mind shattering as face after face flowed through my mind. Their expressions of horror and pain as the Masamune carved its way through their flesh. I could drown a field with all the blood I spilled.

I felt like shouting and throwing the Masamune to the ground. I suddenly realized something, what I truly deserve is a very slow and extremely painful death.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

I waited patiently while Sephiroth talked to Hope. I don't know what Sephiroth was saying to Hope, but I didn't particularly care. After a short while Sephiroth walked by me, so I looked over my shoulder and saw Hope staring at his feet as he walked. I wasn't going to ask what they had discussed.

After about five minutes of walking, with Sephiroth taking point, Sephiroth stopped. I could tell he was looking at the ground by the angle of his head. I walked around him to look him in the eye. He didn't even notice that I was standing directly in front of him.

"Sephiroth?" I asked to get his attention. He made no move. I thought that he must be in very deep thought. "Sephiroth?" I asked a bit louder, but he continued to ignore me.

"Lightning!" Hope shouted. I walked around Sephiroth, his right side, and saw the glowing form of his l'Cie brand above his coat, near his shoulder.

The ground started to shine. Not brightly, but it was shining. I quickly stepped away from the tall, black clothed man and wondered why an Eidolon was appearing.

"WHY DO I DESERVE THIS?" Sephiroth shouted at the top of his lungs to the sky. He threw his sword to the ground and fell to his knees.

The are around him seemed to explode into a deep purple light, similar to when Odin appeared. The large symbols that appeared around him were very abstract. But if I had to guess, they looked like a star chart with wings around it. I could be vastly wrong though.

I felt something brush my arm, so I looked over at what it was. It was a large black feather. I looked back towards Sephiroth and saw something appear out of a cloud of black smoke. It looked like a feathered wing wrapped around something. As soon as I thought that, The wing moved away and I saw what it was.

It was a large humanoid figure with a huge black feathered wing where its right arm should be. It had a skull with large horns for a head, spikes for feet, and what seemed to be claws instead of fingers. I couldn't help but notice that it was also hovering.

"I don't know what your purpose is," I heard Sephiroth say "But all I ask, is a swift death," I couldn't believe what I just heard.

**How was that? Should I leave it there or add a bit more? I don't like the length (too short) but I do like where I stopped it. If you want me to add more, just remember, the longer this chapter is, the shorter the next becomes.**

**By the way, in case you're wondering the Eidolon has appeared in the final fantasy series before. I don't want to reveal what it is yet. But if you already know, please don't spoil it for those who don't know.**

**Please Review.**


	14. Chapter 14

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

Blaze Edge had been in my hand since the large figure appeared. I was still stunned by what I had heard from Sephiroth. He was usually the one telling us to keep moving and to never give up. I had no idea what had been going on in his head but I did know that the large figure must be the same type of thing as Odin.

The large hovering figure lifted its hand towards Sephiroth. It moved its claw-like fingers apart and a large purplish-black fireball appeared between them. I knew that the fireball was meant to kill Sephiroth. Mainly because of what he had said to the figure. I would not allow any ally of mine to die just yet.

Before I fully knew what was happening, I had Blaze Edge in gun mode. I centred the sights on the right eye hole of the figure and squeezed the trigger. Blaze Edge jumped in my hand, pushed into my shoulder and moved sharply upward as the bullet exploded out of the barrel.

The head of the thing snapped back as the bullet slammed into the eye socket. The figure looked like it stumbled back and regained its balance, which is just odd to say because the thing was permanently in the air. It shook its head before looking directly at me.

The large thing lifted its hand towards me and moments later a fireball was flying at me. I jumped to the side and the fireball exploded right where I had been standing. I heard several strikes of lightning and knew that Hope was trying to get the things attention so I could get back on my feet.

I stood up and looked over to Hope. He was getting ready to hit the thing with another spell. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the thing open its mouth. It let out an earsplitting shriek that took me to my knees, I couldn't even begin to imagine what this was like to Hope. Or Sephiroth for that matter.

With my hands over my ears I looked over and saw Sephiroth still on his knees, looking at the ground directly in front of him. When the thing stopped screeching, it was still echoing in my ears, I knew that I was going to be deaf for awhile. I might as well use that to my advantage.

~~~~Genesis' POV~~~~

I realized I had drifted to sleep when I was being shook to be awakened. I pushed my self into a sitting position as I slowly opened my eyes and looked over at Angeal.

"I'll admit it's good to see you again, Genesis," Angeal said in his classic joking way with a smirk "But where in Gaia are we?" I knew exactly where we were, but I chose to keep that to myself.

"I think a more important question is why are we here?" I asked back to my old friend. He helped me to my feet and we began to look around the area. I was feigning interest in the cybernetic forest.

"I don't even think we're on Gaia," Angeal commented to me.

"What makes-" I was cut off by an exceptionally loud screeching noise.

Angeal and I knew the direction of the source and started off towards it. Since there was no lift to take us down the next set of path ways, we had to leap from branch to branch. I felt unusually cheerful towards the thought of using my rapier again.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

I have no idea about how much time had passed since the thing screamed at me and Hope. All I knew was I had recovered my hearing and the thing was relentless.

It was using a rather obvious tactic against me and Hope; fight fire with fire. Every time I charged at it, it would meet me with its own set of melee attacks; Every time Hope attacked it, it countered with its own spell. I had also noticed an odd scent when I came close to it. Death, was the only way to describe the smell. It made me feel sick to my stomach, made me want to gag, felt like it was sapping my strength, and made the smallest movements many times more difficult.

After what felt like hours, I could no longer fight the thing. Its debilitating aura was too much to handle. However, I refused to fall to the ground, I stayed standing and started to assist Hope with the limited healing spells I knew. I could see that Hope was beginning to feel drained, I could see it in his stance.

Sephiroth was still on his knees. He still hadn't even moved from the spot he started in. His sword was easily within his reach but he didn't move, he wasn't even reacting to the fact that the thing was about to kill his companions.

I was about to summon Odin when something caught my attention. It was a small flash of a dark colour, purple most likely. I looked at it and saw that it was indeed purple, but it was around the fist of a man careening towards the flying thing. When the mans fist connected with the torso of the thing, a large purple orb appeared and yanked the thing to the ground.

The man landed near Sephiroth and I quickly examined him. He had the same dimensions as Snow, albeit a bit larger muscle-wise. Straight shoulder length black hair, black clothing and black leather spaulders, brown gloves, boots, and something that held the large midriff belt.

A moment after, a second man landed, compared to the first, he was scrawny. The second man had a red coat that hung to half way down his shins and black shoulders. Reddish-brown hair that fell to his jaw, I guess the true word for his hair colour is Auburn. His boots had a three inch heel, which I thought was fairly strange. He had a long red sword in his right hand pointed towards the thing.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

I saw the one winged being fall to the ground but didn't move from my spot. I still couldn't believe Lightning and Hope were able to knock it down, much less fight the thing. I didn't care though. A . . . monster such as me doesn't deserve another opportunity at life. If Lightning and Hope were intending to defend me to the death, they would get their wish.

I couldn't even begin to imagine what Angeal or Genesis would say if they saw me like this. But, again, I wouldn't care what they said. There are too many crimes on my list to let me remain in the world of the living.

"Since when do you give up?" A voice said to me. At first I didn't know who it belonged to, but my subconscious did. It sent one memory to the surface of my mind. Angeal.

I looked to where the voice came from and saw exactly what I thought I'd see. My old friend Angeal was standing there, battle stance up, and looking down at me. I knew he was standing right there, but my mind was refusing to accept it as real.

"We don't have time for this," I heard another voice say. There is only one person who has a voice that sounds like it is permanently saying poetry, Genesis.

I looked to my other side where Genesis was standing and back at Angeal. I switched back and forth a few times before grabbing the Masamune and pushing myself to my feet.

"I guess we have to wait for the cheerful part of this," Angeal commented as the large being pushed itself off the ground and back into the air.

I felt a surge of power and, what could only be described as, happiness. I looked between Angeal and Genesis one more time and took note of the armbands they had on their left arms. The small glowing orbs in the armbands were obviously materia.

Once the large being was back in the air, we charged. With the combined overall power of Angeal, Genesis and myself, the being didn't stand a chance. The three of us were to fast for the being and Angeal constantly hitting it with gravity spells made our task easy.

However, Angeal's gravity materia was limited. It needed to recharge after the sixth cast. The aura around the being was starting to take its toll on us. But we were able to push the being back.

It wrapped its wing around itself and I thought that it was going to attack again. I knew that everyone else thought the same thing. Angeal and Genesis were anticipating another attack, as were I and Lightning.

The being exploded into a flurry of black feathers. I knew that we were all surprised by what in place of the being. A large black horse with black feathered wings, the horse though was smaller than Odin but still large.

The head of the horse was a horned skull still. The wings were still slightly mechanical looking, the feathers looked to be made of a type of steel. The mane and tail of it were made of black feathers and the hooves had a small perpetual black flame on them.

"I am Zalera," A voice in my mind said, it sounded like someone forcing air out of their lungs to speak which made it lack gender "The Abyss is yours to command."

In a flash of dark purple, Zalera disappeared. All that remained was an amethyst sphere the size of Hope's fist. The amethyst was so dark, it was almost black. I assumed that this object was supposed to be reference to the Black Materia, which I had stored in the Masamune.

"Is this supposed to be a joke?" I asked myself under my breath.

"What?" Angeal asked, having heard my mumbling. Also reminding me that he was there.

I turned to face Angeal and Genesis and saw them standing, waiting for me. Waiting the same way soldiers wait for orders from the General. I guess this situation wasn't too far away from that.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked them, forcing my voice and expression to remain neutral.

"As much as we'd like to explain," Genesis said without breaking the stoic stance "This is not the time or place for talk. We must keep moving," Genesis started to walk towards me. He passed by me then stopped "Oh yeah," He said as he turned towards me "Just in case you want travel to be easier," He said as he reached into his coat and handed me a yellow materia. I attached the materia to the metal band at the end of my sleeve.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

It was obvious that Sephiroth knew these two men, but I wanted to know how. I had a feeling that they wouldn't explain even if I asked, but I might as well try.

"Who are you two?" I asked in my most commanding tone. All three turned to me and I noticed they had the same symbol on their belts.

"Angeal Hewley," The man in black said.

"Genesis Rhapsodos," The man in red said "May I ask yours?" He asked me and Hope.

"Lightning," I replied.

"Hope Estheim," Hope answered "Why should we trust you guys?" I was surprised that Hope had asked that, and that I hadn't.

"They are my old friends," Sephiroth answered "And I trust them with my life," He said as he glanced at them both.

"Not to mention that he would easily beat us both in a fight," Angeal said with a half smile.

"As I said before, we should not linger here," Genesis said to all of us. The way he spoke annoyed me slightly, I really have no idea why. But it made me think of poetry for reason.

I saw Sephiroth's sword glow yellow for a moment before it vanished. I blinked several times before confirming that that had really happened.

"What did you just do?" Hope asked Sephiroth.

"I don't have time to explain. But trust me when I say, don't worry," With that said, we all started off.

I was rather glad to have two more allies, but something seemed off about them. First off, Angeal's and Genesis' eyes seemed to glow a bright blue. Second, something about Genesis just didn't seem right, didn't seem natural. Lastly, them showing up to help us was way too convenient for my liking.

I knew that now there was five of us, the odds of being killed had decreased. But the odds of being found had increased which in the long run, had increased the chances of being killed.

I didn't know whether to see these new people as a blessing or a curse.

**Happy New Year! Even if that is a bit late.**

**I kind of rushed that chapter, so sorry about any errors that I may have over looked. Also if any part of it seems under par, let me know so I can improve it.**

**As usual, Please Review.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Should have said this earlier, but HopelessRomanticist helped me determine Sephiroth's eidolon. So be sure to thank him.**

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

I told Lightning and Hope to watch our backs as Angeal, Genesis and myself ran up ahead. Having Angeal and Genesis at my sides again made me feel like I had just found my long lost brothers. I knew that now that the three of us were reunited, I had the powers of a l'Cie and they, their materia, there was very little that would be able to stand against us.

But there was one question on my mind.

"What do you two remember from before waking up?" I asked them calmly.

"An angelic voice saying that you needed my help to atone," Angeal answered immediately.

"Nothing different for me," Genesis answered right after.

So it was true, the being that sent me here was actually trying to help me. It was not something I was used to. Up until now, the only help I had ever received was having my life ended so I could realize what I was doing.

I brought myself out of my thoughts and continued to lead the group of four.

~~~~Genesis' POV~~~~

I was stunned by Angeal, it had made my only fear a reality and I am glad I was able to form a response quick enough to prevent any trouble. Mother had not sent Angeal to assist me, but he was sent by the other being to assist Sephiroth in this futile quest. Since Angeal was not here to help me, I would just have to talk them both into rejoining Jenova's family. But if it came down to it, I would force them into rejoining the family.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

The five of us pushed on through the Gapra Whitewood quite easily. With Sephiroth leading us through the this area and destroying our enemies with the people Angeal and Genesis, of course. I found it amazing watching these three men fight, they obviously were very highly trained soldiers and they trusted each other completely.

On more than a few occasions, the three had been fighting in such a way that they had the possibility of accidentally killing each other. I would never be able to trust someone that much, simply because accidents happen and I've known way too many clumsy soldiers.

Whenever an obstacle barred our path, soldier, creature, or branch, They cut right through it and continued. Until we reached the main cargo lift, the biggest elevator I have ever been around. I wish I could say the five of us quickly disposed of the troops guarding the elevator, but Angeal, Gensis, and Sephiroth made it so me and Hope never had much to do. We quickly made our way through the Whitewood with the three leading and arrived at a very large lift. The moment we were all on the lift, Hope spoke up and grabbed our attention.

"Why do I have the feeling something bad's about to happen?"

"Same reason we all do," Angeal replied, speaking for the rest of us.

I walked over to the controls and activated the lift with the push of a button. The railing-less platform moved upwards through large metal rings at a brisk pace. It slid to a stop perfectly even with the path and we were ambushed by an Aster Protoflorian, the one made to guard the passage to Palumpolum.

Sephiroth, Angeal and Genesis flew towards the mechanized beast using every attack they had. Their magic did nothing and their swords, and Angeal's fists, didn't even scratch the armor. I had a feeling that this could could be the end of our journey, but I would do everything in my power to ensure that we made it past this beast. Then something occurred to me.

"Odin!" I shouted as I threw the the crystal rose into the air, jumped, and slashed it. The large pink symbols appeared and shortly after, Odin landed beside me "Attack that thing," I commanded.

"Zalera!" I heard Sephiroth shout. I looked over and saw Sephiroth throw the dark orb to the ground and the large abstract symbols appeared. Smoke started pouring from the center and Zalera gently rose out of the ground with the large wing wrapped around itself. "Kill it."

Odin charged forward to attack the Protoflorian with his sword, and Zalera sent its spells at it. Odin's sword easily sliced through the armor of the Protoflorian and Zalera's spells were wearing it down. The two Eidolons working together made short work of the devastator while we just stood back and rested from all the other fights.

After the Protoflorian was laying dead, Odin leaped into the air and vanished; Zalera wrapped its wing around itself and disappeared in a flurry of black feathers. Cautiously we walked around the dead devastator and continued heading towards Palumpolum. We left the Whitewood and found ourselves on a cliff; Palumpolum in the distance, across the body of water was the greeting sight.

"Palumpolum," Hope stated, to who was a mystery.

"That's where you live, right?" I asked the teen, Hope just walked towards the edge and said nothing "We'll stop in when we get there," I said in order to get a response from him.

"No. We're l'Cie now, and no one's there but my dad," Hope said flatly.

"Hope..." I said quietly, seeing how much pain he was in.

"You have to tell him what has happened," Sephiroth said in a strangely compassionate tone.

We all stood and watched the sun start to set behind Palumpolum for a minute or two longer before continuing.


	16. Chapter 16

******Yes, this story has finally been updated. Sorry about the wait, life was getting in the way for a while but now I should be able to continue writing. **

**Make sure to read the previous chapter. Or the whole story if it has been that long.**

* * *

**The Sunleth Waterscape**

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

Vanille started giggling and skipping as we came out of the cold, moist and old air of the cave. A little while ago she just took off, with me and Sazh having a hard time keeping up with her. When Vanille was standing fully in a ray of sun, she stretched her arms upwards and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fresh air. Nice," Vanille proudly stated.

"I fully agree with that," I said as I stretched.

"So?" Sazh asked making Vanille and I look at him "Where are we headed?"

"Don't know," Vanille answered as she placed her hands on her hips.

"You don't know?" Sazh and I said surprised "I thought you had somewhere in mind, the way you took off."

"You followed the smell, didn't you?" I asked Vanille. She just looked at me and giggled.

"What?" Sazh asked out of confusion.

"I followed the smell," Vanille stated to the aged pilot.

"Repeating it won't help me understand."

"The smell of nature," I said to clear it up. Sazh started sniffing the air around him but had a unamused face.

"Just smells damp. And I think something just bit me," I couldn't help but giggle at Sazh's statement. Suddenly birds started panicking about something.

"Hide!" Vanille said quickly to us.

The three of us had nowhere to hide, so we just looked up at the sound of airships. They flew by quickly and most likely did not even notice us standing right below them, if they did, then we did not matter to them.

"Skyfleet," Sazh stated "Closest city that way is Palumpolum," I instantly had a very bad feeling and hoped I was wrong "That is not good. I wonder if those three were caught in the net."

"What do we do?" Me and Vanille asked Sazh, I knew there was nothing we could do, but I hoped Sazh would say something to help.

"Right now, what _can_ we do?" we stood there and let Sazh's comment sink in for a moment. Vanille was the first to speak.

"Right, no choice. We run – the other way," Vanille's answer was good enough for me

"Which would be – to Nautilus," I could sense something in Sazh's response. I knew it was either depression or regret, it was one or even both of them. Sazh started walking without another word, me and Vanille following shortly after.

We calmly walked through the forest, enjoying the beauty and tranquility of the area. We made small talk about where we were and made little jokes. Sazh made both me and Vanille laugh as we walked with one little comment.

"All this dampness is damp," He said it as we walked through an place with lots of puddles.

We came across some wildlife which we called Hedge Frogs because they came out of hedges and hopped around like frogs. They were fairly large but always ran away when we went near them. Between the forest and the animals, I felt like nothing was wrong or could go wrong. Surprisingly though, nothing did.

I started singing a song I learned in the lifestream as we walked and soon I had Vanille humming along. I knew Vanille and Sazh did not understand what I was saying because it was a Cetra song. I knew what I was saying though, and that's what is important. I tried singing as long as possible, but my throat started to hurt after a while.

When we got fairly deep into the forest I started singing again, and my voice echoed quite a bit. I liked how it echoed through the trees so I sang a bit louder. The sound was making Vanille laugh, so I kept doing it, but then Sazh spoke up.

"Try to be just a little quiet for a minute, okay?" Vanille looked at him as if he just told me to shut up "For all we know, there could be soldiers near by," he had a very strong point so I stopped singing.

We walked by some waterfalls and saw some little winged creatures dancing around. I knew none of us knew what they were really doing, but I like to think they were dancing. The three of us avoided them because they looked so happy with being so free that we didn't want to upset them. Soon after the waterfalls, we found ourselves on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

"Hey, Sazh, tell us a little about yourself," Vanille said as she skipped along side him.

"Huh?" was Sazh's response, I knew he was pulled out of his thoughts by Vanille.

"Any family?" Vanille asked innocently. Sazh stopped walking so I turned to him and saw sadness cross his face.

"I have a little boy," Sazh answered.

"So you're married?" I asked without thinking. I knew it was mistake to say that.

"Yeah, I was," Sazh said calmly.

"We gotta get you home," Vanille said in a rather commanding tone "Your son needs you," The sadness on Sazh's face increased and Vanille was failing to notice. I walked up to him and put my left hand on his right shoulder "Come on, we'll make it!" Vanille said cheerfully.

"It's too late," Sazh said calmly after pulling away from me.

"Is it the l'Cie thing?" Vanille asked in a somber tone.

"How'd you-"

"You might be a l'Cie, but your still a daddy," Vanille interupted. I was curious what Sazh was going to say. Sazh huffed at what Vanille said.

"You're right."

I felt a tremble in the ground. Not a normal tremble like an earthquake, but something else.

"So what's his name?" I asked Sazh, trying to cheer him up and take my mind off the tremble. I could he had drifted into a memory.

"Sazh?" Vanille asked, also wanting to know the answer.

Again a tremble through the ground, but a bit stronger than before.

"Huh?" Sazh said turning to Vanille, again being pulled out of his thoughts.

"Are you all right?" I asked a bit fast, anxiety was building in me as the trembles continued.

"Oh. Yeah," Sazh replied with a wave of his hand.

"Come on, Pops!" I could tell Sazh did not enjoy the nickname Vanille had given him "You've really got to keep it together, okay?"

"We should go now," I said as normally as I could manage. I heard Sazh chuckle lightly.

"Now I've got kids looking out for me. Some dad I am."

I watched them start walking away. I had to find out why these trembles were happening, but I didn't want Sazh and Vanille to know. Before they got to far away Sazh stopped and turned to me.

"Hey, you comin?"

"Yeah, I just want to enjoy the view a bit more."

"Awright," Sazh turned and started walking with Vanille.

When I knew they were far enough away I went my knees, placed my staff beside me and put both hands on the ground. There was so much noise coming from this world, I didn't know what voice I was looking for. I kept searching until one voice stood out, it was a voice I had not heard since that journey with Cloud, and I deply wished I was wrong.

It was the voice of Jenova, the one so many called mother, the one that had manipulated Sephiroth into summoning Meteor. And she was here, somehow able to be here even though Cloud and the others had destroyed her in the Northern Cave.

I felt my will to continue shatter at that moment. How was I supposed to compete with Jenova in making Sephiroth a different person? Clearly Jenova had powers far beyond any other being, maybe even the one that brought me and Sephiroth here, to Cocoon.

A light started to shine in front of me. I grabbed my staff and stood up. I could hear Sazh and Vanille running towards me. I saw a giant winged person coming down from the sky and land softly in front of us. It was an Angel. A giant robotic angel woman, with heels and a cape starting at its hips that looked like it was made of feathers.

"What is that?" Sazh almost shouted.

"An Eidolon, like in the stories," Vanille stated.

"Well all I know is, we have to keep this thing from killing us!" Sazh said to get me and Vanille ready to fight it.

I changed my mind. I wasn't going to let Jenova win. I am going to defeat this thing and I am going to make sure Sephiroth can and will destroy Jenova. But at the moment, I would like to have someone help us against this robot.


	17. Chapter 17

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

Me, Sazh and Vanille had tried our hardest to beat the robot angel, but nothing we did had any effect. So me and Vanille had started healing each other and Sazh as much as we could. We, dodged, healed, attacked and ran when we had no other choice, but the angel would not stop. Eventually it stopped, so we watched it and waited fro the next attack.

The angel swept its right hand through the air, and five large white balls appeared. They stayed in the air for a few seconds before flying at us. Well, the ground at our feet. The three of us dodged the balls easily, but they exploded when they it the ground. It was more of a bright flash than an explosion, when they hit the ground. Me and Vanille healed each other as fast as we could even though we didn't need it.

It continued to send wave after wave of those white balls at us, until we were too tired to dodge them. Getting hit by the attack didn't hurt, slamming into a tree or the ground after getting hit is what hurt. The three of us wound up close together after being beaten around the area for minutes on end and we tried healing each other, but Vanille and me were just too exhausted.

Sazh, Vanille and I looked up at the robot angel. It was looking down on us with a blank expression but then suddenly a voice appeared in my head.

"I am sorry it has to end this way. I did not want to do this," the voice was feminine, friendly and apologetic.

I did not want it to end this way either. But what can I do against Jenova? I am just one young half-Cetra against Jenova, an ancient being with power that even Sephiroth dreamed of having. I wasn't afraid of dying again, at least this time wouldn't hurt as much as getting stabbed, I would be back with my true mother and the angels.

Wait . . . How could I be so blind to the answer of this problem? It is so obvious . . . I feel like smacking myself.

I pushed myself to my feet, took a determined stance and gave the robot angel my most intense stare. I really hope this will work.

"Please stop this. I ask for you to lend us your aid. We need your help in this battle, not you hindering us. If you do intend to kill us, I beg you to only take me and let them go because they have no conflict with you. I beg you, help us," I felt a tear roll down my cheek which took me by surprise.

The robot angel flapped its wings and spun around very quickly. When it stopped spinning, it wasn't a robot angel anymore. It had turned into a big robot eagle and let out a loud, proud eagle cry. It landed right in front of me and looked straight into my eyes with one of its own.

"Well spoken young woman. I am Valkryie and my divine power is yours to command."

It vanished in a flash of light and a pure white, perfectly round diamond floated in the air. It was the same size as a materia, I noticed, and I almost cried when I realized it was a reference to Holy. My mothers materia that was completely useless until the entire world was threatened. A memento that was the most important thing to me.

"What just happened?" Sazh asked, completely confused. I looked over to Vanille and tried to deliver all my thoughts in one expression. She just nodded.

"We should get moving. Keep distance between us and … them," I said quickly before starting off.

The rest of our trip through this beautiful, overgrown place was rather uneventful. Other than a fight with two very large 'Woodwraiths' as Sazh had called them. We had tried to sneak around them since they were asleep, but they woke up anyways. With the help of Valkyrie we killed the poor beasts, but I didn't have the time to feel mercy towards these creatures.

"A hop, skip, and a jump and we're in Nautilus," Sazh said to me and Vanille.

"The 'City of Dreams' …" Vanille said, in a rather depressed tone. Sazh crossed his arms and looked to the sky.

"If only we were dreaming up those clouds," I looked to the clouds as Sazh spoke and saw for myself that it was going to be quite a storm very soon.

After going through the gap in the hill we met a fence. A tall, electrified fence to be exact. I could tell it was electrified because of the large bolt jumping around on one section. I looked a bit closer and saw a big hole in the fence underneath the large bolt.

"Well, climbing over's out," Sazh stated.

"There is a hole in the fence over there," I pointed out.

"That's lucky," Vanille said with a smile, that I could see right through.

We carefully climbed through the hole in the fence, making sure nothing of ours was caught or even touched by the fence. Thunder started rolling through the clouds and I knew the rain would follow real soon.

"We can board the ship over there," Sazh pointed over to the covered area and I was quite glad about that. Unfortunately, the rain started pouring down before we were safe. Once we were safely hidden from the rain, Sazh looked around and made a comment "When it rains around here, it pours. And then it rains some more."

We sat down on the bench to rest our aching legs. I sat beside Vanille and Sazh sat at the opposite end, I had no idea as to why.

"Sazh, Aerith... Do you hate Pulse?" Vanille asked us.

"Why wouldn't I?" Sazh said.

"Of course not," I said at the same time.

"Look at this mess it's gotten us all into!" Sazh continued. I was going to jump to Pulse's defence but Sazh kept talking "Of course, that's not to say I always hated it. Seemed fishy. All that Sanctum ranting about the 'threat from Pulse.' 'Only a matter of time before they strike.' 'Pulse is infested with monsters.' " I could remember when people used to say the same things about Wutai, Shinra, and AVALANCHE "Scare after scare, and not even a shred of proof. Tired old cynics like me, we don't just swallow that tabloid crap."

"Neither do young people who think for themselves," I added to Vanille.

"No, no. Not me," Sazh kept talking because he didn't hear me "I figured the Sanctum was up to something crooked," Sazh sighed and dropped his head "At least until I got dragged in."

"Yeah..." Vanille said without emotion. I put my hand on hers to get her attention and gave her an understanding smile.

"Now that I think about it, all this purge business..." Sazh said as he stood up and paced his way towards us, but turned away to look at nothing in particular "...it really only happened because Dajh found that Pulse fal'Cie."

"You're wrong," Vanille said to Sazh "Don't blame him. It was all-" Vanille grabbed my hand quite tightly. It kind of hurt.

"Yeah, you're right. It was that scum from Pulse behind it." Sazh said with a hint of anger.

At those words, I saw tears start to build in Vanille's eyes and knew right there that she was from Pulse. She let go of my hand and ran out into the rain. I saw Sazh tilt his head to one side and knew he had a questioning look.

"You're getting soaked," Sazh said to state the obvious.

"I'll be fine," Vanille said with childish annoyance "It's only water."

"But you'll get sick from the wet and cold," I said in the way Tifa called mothering. Vanille came back under the roof after I spoke. I knew she had used the rain to hide her tears, but I wouldn't say anything about it.

* * *

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

Lightning, Hope, Genesis, Angeal and myself squeezed together behind a military truck the moment we entered the city Palumpolum. I couldn't help but find the name of this city rather ridiculous, but that was because I came from an entirely different world. Lightning looked around the corner and Hope took a knee to see around the corner.

"We can make it," Hope said to Lightning after a moment "Get to the station, and board the train for Eden."

"What makes you think the train will be running?" Genesis asked Hope, a bit harshly.

"Well, if it isn't, we'll make it run," Hope replied without looking at Genesis. I was beginning to like the way the kid thought. It reminded me of myself.

"Then punch straight into the heart of the Sanctum?" Lighting retorted "Now you're thinking like a Pulse l'Cie." I looked to Genesis and Angeal and saw their questioning looks.

"Later," I whispered to them.

"Well, this is operation Nora. It's not just Snow I'm after. The Sanctum's got to pay too," as Hope spoke I realized I didn't have a clue as to what he was talking about. Lightning did however, so they must have talked about this before when I was scouting ahead or killing something. Lightning did sigh at Hope's words though "Hey, you're the one who said we had to fight. Every minute we waste, we're tempting fate."

"He is right about that," I said to Lightning.

"There's some underground tunnels not far from here. I used to play in them when I was a kid," Hope said as he pointed towards the face of a cliff.

"When _you _were a kid?" Angeal asked with an amused tone. Hope gave him an irritated look.

"No one uses the entrance anymore, so even the army doesn't know about it. But I know where it is. We can sneak in under their noses," Hope sounded confident with his suggestion.

"Sounds good," Lightning said with a slight nod towards the boy.

"Except for the part about we are getting military information from a kid," Genesis pointed out "How in the world could he know what the military does and doesn't know?"

"Well in case the military does know," I said to Genesis "You and Angeal will create a diversion so we can get in there," my tone had slipped into my General tone."

"What's the rendezvous point?" Angeal asked, in his battlefield tone.

"I will signal later. Keep your eyes up."

"Yes sir," Angeal and Genesis both said before moving away from us.

"Let's get into a safer spot," I said to Hope and Lightning.

"Will they be alright?" Hope asked me with no real concern.

"This isn't the first time we've done this."

We crouched down behind some boxes and waited for a few minutes to give Angeal and Genesis enough time to create a diversion. After I counted eight minutes and forty-three seconds, the time Angeal, Genesis, and I agreed on for diversions years ago, an explosion sounded somewhere away from where Hope wanted to go.

"Go! Now! That's the diversion," I said to get them moving.

In only a couple of minutes, we were in the tunnels Hope had talked about. I knew that soon the questions would come out and I wouldn't be able to avoid them.

**Yes, it is finally updated. I know it took far too long to update, but I was trying to finish one of my other stories first. Its almost done, so yay for me. Hopefully soon I will be able to update my other three stories, but I digress.**

**Please leave a Review. I don't mind if it is just a "good job" or "about time" or "yay! Update" Reviews do make me update faster, I swear.**


	18. Chapter 18

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

When we entered the 'tunnels' Hope talked about, I was actually surprised at the how severe of an understatement the term tunnels was. The place was a massive cavern that most likely spanned the majority of the city above it. I could not help but look around at the place, the unsupported walk ways, levitating platforms, the giant gold …. thing in what I assumed to be the middle of the cavern.

We jumped down a couple of ledges that were far apart to reach the only path and Lightning was keeping her eyes on the way we came in. I was keeping my focus on the path ahead of us since Lightning was watching our backs.

"Don't worry," Hope said to us "It will be fine. Only kids like me know about that entrance," Hope's words did little to 'comfort' my suspicion.

"They'll find it," Lightning stated, voicing my thoughts "They'll call in a team, and canvass the whole tunnel system."

"Then we'd better hurry," Hope said before walking away from us. I had a feeling some of mine and Lightning's personalities were rubbing off on him.

"So where will this take us?" I asked the teen.

"Well, it... it-"

"You don't know?" Lightning said in a tone I was unfamiliar with hearing from her "We'll find out today," Lightning said to Hope as she walked past him and patted his shoulder. I started counting in my head to see how long it would take for the questions for appear.

At the end of the first walkway Lightning activated a device that called over a large levitating platform. We stepped on and it slid away from the stairs that hung off the end of the catwalk. The platform slid through the air without a sound and no words crossed our lips as we waited.

_Eighty-four, eighty-five, eighty-_

"So are you ever going to explain what you did to your sword?" Lightning asked me in a cold tone. Eighty-six seconds I waited for this and I spent those seconds deciding what to say.

"First off," I summoned my sword with the materia "The yellow orb Genesis gave me is experimental technology," I thought lying through my teeth was much easier than trying to explain materia at the moment "Second, it allows me to compact the mass of my sword into the orb, making travel much easier. For that reason I call it the Equip orb."

"How old are you?" Hope asked with a tone that gave away he had been trying to figure it out.

"Twenty-seven. I should be thirty-six but due to … unfortunate circumstances I spent nine years in suspended animation," I was surprised at how much I was able to sugar-coat the nine years I spent more or less dead in the lifestream.

"Aren't you a little young to be a five star general?" Lightning asked me. Her growing distrust was painfully obvious in her voice.

"How high of a rank is that?" Hope asked, his curiosity was genuine.

"The highest rank one can achieve for the battlefield. Everyone had to follow my orders to the letter. And I achieved that rank by having a mind far superior to those in command," I answered both questions as the platform slid into the landing and we proceeded onto the next walkway.

"Are you sure we can trust your _friends_?" Lightning half growled the word friends "We are Pulse l'Cie after all."

"I trust them with my life and they would sooner die than…" I was about to say betray, but then I remembered that painful time "… hurt a friend."

As we walked along the path we occasionally had to dispose of creatures that Lightning and Hope called Flanitors and a Lucidon. There was a plentiful amount of Flanitors but only a single Lucidon. As we passed close by the large glowing… faces, Hope spoke up.

"That's the city's food production fal'Cie. Name's Carbuncle. That's one of our enemies, being Sanctum and all," Lightning and Hope approached the edge of the platform we had stopped on and I just hung back and listened to them.

"So… Kill him, and cut off the food supply. That'll make us popular," I was really hoping Lightning was not actually considering killing that thing. Mainly because it was an extremely bad idea and a great way to wind up dead.

"I think enough people have enough reason to hate us, don't you?" I am glad to know that Hope has enough sense to leave that thing alone.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Hungry people make for angry people," So she was considering killing those big glowing faces that orbit that large yellow crystal.

I'm just glad I was told to help her on this mission and not try to talk sense into her. I would probably have an easier time teaching math to a brick wall. Not to mention the severe hypocrisy of me talking sense into someone, I should not be anyone's first choice for sense.

Some stairs, Flanitors, and pathways later, we happened across another need for one of those floating platforms. Lightning activated the control, the platform docked, we stepped on, rode it to the other dock, and stepped off without exchanging one word. We we came across another walkway locked platform, Hope spoke up again.

"Look at us: Pulse l'Cie, using a Sanctum fal'Cie to tell where we're going. Sort of strange," as the platinum haired teen spoke I looked and noticed that we were across from where we last stopped.

"Not really," I said "It is quite common for enemies to use each others resources to achieve their own end."

"Not to mention we've relied on them our whole lives," Lightning stated without looking away from the glowing… thing "The food we eat, the light and water, it's all from the fal'Cie," I couldn't help but smirk at that, these fal'Cie were beginning to sound like Shinra to me "You know, I think Cocoon was really built for them," Wait… this world Cocoon… It was built? You learn something new everyday "The rest of us, we're just leeches. Parasites," Well there is a common thought between Lightning and I, although that thought is what lead me here.

"You think?" Hope asked the pink haired soldier "They protect us, nurture us. They take care of, well, normal people. They treat us like we're special, almost like…" Hope trailed off looking for his next words.

"Like we're animals," I said with a wave of my hand.

"Like pets," Lightning said, I looked over to her and saw the look of an epiphany "To them, we are just pets. That's it. Now it makes sense," I was trying my hardest to understand what Lightning was saying and trying very hard not to ask what she meant "I've been so blind. I was born on a fal'Cie world, raised on a fal'Cie leash. It was the only life I knew how to live. When it was taken from me, I was lost. Without a master to follow, my life had no purpose," I guess something similar happened to me, but it was more the lure of power and hatred fueling my actions "Hope, listen to me. This l'Cie curse, it took everything from me. My future. My dreams. I didn't want to think," that explains most of her brash actions "So I fought instead," the way Lightning harshly said that kind of surprised me, the sudden change did "As long as I was fighting, nothing else was real. I was running away," Lightning turned away from Hope and looked at her left hand "And you two, Hope… Sephiroth… You got swept along with me."

"But Lightning, I don't understand," Hope replied.

"I followed you because it seemed better than traveling with the talkers," I lied. Lightning turned to Hope, seemingly ignoring what I said.

"Operation Nora is over."

"What?" Hope gasped.

"I…" Lightning began.

"No! You told me to fight!" Hope yelled at Lightning, I was at a loss of what to do. Whenever two of Angel, Genesis and I got into an argument, it resorted to fighting, which would not work here.

"I made a mistake!" Lightning yelled back. Her tone change and her looking away made me think she was actually ashamed of what she has done.

"But – you can't do this," Hope sounded depressed "You can't just build something up like that, then abandon me," a flash back to when Angeal and Genesis left the company chose the wrong time to occur and the anger I left boiling from when I was about their loyalty, just boiled over.

"You had better get to used to it, kid. Because that is life," I said in an unintentional dark tone "A lot of people will abandon you throughout your life so you had better start preparing for that," with that said, dark memories in my mind's eye, I walked away from them.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

Hope and I watched Sephiroth walk away. I could swear I actually saw pain and possibly tears in those emotionless bright green eyes. I turned back to Hope and placed my hands on his shoulders.

"I won't abandon you," I looked into Hope's green eyes and tried to make him believe me "I won't."

"I can't just throw in the towel. How am I supposed to just forget about all this?" I wished I had an answer for Hope.

We had to jog a bit to catch up to Sephiroth, who had little more than a ten sen second head start. He really did not waste time. He was sitting on some stairs waiting for us and looked up when we got close.

"I apologize for what I said. I was just… reminded of something painful," Hope nodded his understanding.

"So what do we do now?" Hope really did take every moment of rest to talk. I turned to him and sighed "We're l'Cie! Ticking time bombs. Enemies of Cocoon. If we can't follow the plan, do we just lay down and die?"

"I didn't mean we should give up." I said in my soldier tone. I could feel Sephiroth's piercing gaze on me, was he trying to analyze me for something?

"Then what battles do we fight? And against who? Tell me that!" Hope yelled at me. Once again, I had to turn away from him. For some reason I couldn't look him in the eye when he was mad.

"I don't know yet."

"You don't know yet?" He wasn't yelling but his tone was rather aggressive.

"That's right. I don't know yet. But I do know we can't lose hope," I was truly lost right now.

"Hope?" Hope asked as he sat on the stairs next to where Sephiroth was standing "There is no hope. Not for l'Cie."

"There's you," I wasn't sure why I said that.

"It's my name, not who I am."

"I was just like you," I turned away from the two green eyed guys, stepped closer to the ledge took a breath before continuing "My parents died. I had to be strong for Serah so I thought I needed to forget my past. And I became Lightning. I thought that by changing my name, I could change who I was. I was just a kid. Lightning. It flashes bright, then fades away," I couldn't believe that I was saying this infront of a man and a kid that I barely knew "It can't protect. It only destroys," I walked over to the stairs and sat beside Hope, the boy between myself and Sephiroth "Serah tried to tell me, but I wouldn't listen," I started to think back to that day, right before all of this.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

I thought about what Lightning said about her name and agreed with her. One's name does have an impact on them and those around them. I used to wear my name with pride, but now, whenever it crosses someones lips it feels they are prodding an open wound. My name was feared on Gaia, synonymous with nightmare now, linked to horrid atrocities that I would never be able to make up for. But I was stuck with it. I wasn't even properly named, it was the name of the project that resulted in me.

Lightning standing up pulled out of my thoughts. She stood with her right arm outstretched for a moment then dropped it and her gaze slid downward.

"I threatened her," Lightning said with remorse, an emotion I never felt before coming to Cocoon "The only one who believed her was Snow."

"Don't say it!" Hope yelling pulled Lightning out of her thoughts, I knew by the sudden movement of her head and by her sitting back down "Don't say his name. It brings everything back. I keep playing it in my head, what happened to her. And then I see his stupid face and… and he's _smiling_. How can he smile when she's dead?" Lightning reached out to Hope but he shot to his feet "I know! There's nothing I can do about it. I hate knowing that. No matter what happens, she's not coming back! When I was fighting, there was no time to think about it," I knew he meant when I let him fight creatures "It felt good just to give in," those words sent a chill down my spine, I was well acquainted with the spiral Hope was threatening to enter "But now you start talking about hope…" Hope was on the verge of tears, his voice gave him away. Light stood up, grabbed his left arm and placed her hand on his brand "I'm sorry. I'm messed up."

"No your not," I said getting their attention "That is just being human, never apologize for being human," I stood up and turned away from them, facing the stairs "What I am, that is messed up," I walked up the stairs to escape their questions.

A few more Flanitors, some walkway and a floating platform later, we were face to face with the most ominous lift in existence. I heard Hope sigh right before we entered the lift and I paused.

"Talk to your dad," Lightning commanded as she started touching a hologram. This is fairly more advanced than Gaia.

"What? Why?" Hope asked back.

"Fighting without hope is no way to live," yellow light appeared forming a shaft "It's just a way to die," we stepped into the ominous lift "I want you to find the hope you were named for. Staying alive, we can help you with."

"But you cannot receive hope from us," I said to Hope, continuing Lightning's thought.

"If you go to see your father…" Lightning trailed off, for some reason. Possibly losing her train of thought.

"You think meeting my dad will make anything better?" Hope asked as he looked down at his wrist "He's never listened to a word I've said. He's just – he'll never believe all this l'Cie stuff."

"I doubt he will be able to deny your brand, or either of us," I said motioning to Lightning and myself as the lift started rising.

"Snow believed Serah, didn't he?" Hope asked Lightning, she only responded with a nod.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

When we were able to step off the lift, I looked around and saw that we were in a very open area. The voice of a reporter began echoing the air.

_In a recently convened emergency conference_ – I started walking away from the lift with my Blazefire Saber in gun mode – _the Sanctum announced that the fugitive l'Cie have been located. The military plans to apprehend the l'Cie and carry out a public execution. These images coming to you live from the scene in Palumpolum._

We looked up and at the massive screen and saw us standing looking at the screen.

"So much for low profile," I heard Sephiroth state.

Within moments soldiers were swarmed around us, and several Orion robots were with them. Sephiroth, Hope and myself stood with our backs to each other, forming a triangle. It was about a three hundred to one ratio right now. I was certain we were about to be killed.

"Start running. We'll keep 'em busy," I said to Hope.

"But –!"

"You survive," I said to him.

Without any warning, an area above us exploded, distracting all the soldiers. Ice suddenly spread throughout the area followed by two tall women with a similar look to Odin, who then transformed into a motorcycle. I saw two people jump onto the Eidolon vehicle which then started driving down the ice as if it was asphalt. They were closely followed by another on a chunk of metal, riding it like a snowboard. As they passed over a close by arch of ice, I saw it was Snow and a black haired woman on the bike, and someone with black hair, and a large sword on their back on the improvised snowboard.

"It's him!" Hope shouted. I grabbed his arm and started pulling him away from the spot we had been standing.

The gunship that had been hovering overhead flew off as Sephiroth and I cut down soldier after soldier. The bike passed just over my head, with the other person shortly after. The bike swerved to the left and the 'snowboarder' did a backflip off the metal sheet, launching it at a soldier who was trying to run.

"Lightning!" Snow called to me.

"Sephiroth!" The black haired man called. I saw his clothes were the same as the other black haired man, but he looked the same age as me. His sword had a long straight blade, a large bronze colored hand guard and a long handle.

"Oh, great," I heard Sephiroth say.

Snow and the woman got off his Gestalt bike and I pushed Hope over to him. Hope stumbled but Snow caught him. I quickly studied the woman, tall, black messy hair, blue toga-like fabric, and a double bladed red lance.

"Take care of him."

"Lightning, listen to me!" Snow said quickly.

"Get moving!" I commanded Snow.

Sephiroth, where are-" the other man said.

"Waiting for the signal," Sephiroth replied.

"No, you don't understand! Serah's all right! She'll turn back!" I let out a rough sigh. I couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Take care of Hope," I said before running to clear the area.

"Wait!" Snow shouted at me

"And then there were five," I heard the woman say before she pursued me.

"Stay with them!" I heard Sephiroth shout, most likely to the black haired man.

"But Seph-!"

"That's an order, Fair!" Sephiroth was soon on the woman's heels.

**All I can say is: Your welcome and yes, that was his entrance. **

**Please leave a Review.**

**Oh, before I forget, I will eventually switch to a standard narrator, because it will be far easier for what I have planned in the later chapters.**


	19. Chapter 19

**I need to correct one thing I said in the previous chapter, Sephiroth is 25 years old and he spent 6 years total in suspended animation. 4 years being dead between Crisis Core and FF7 then 2 more years dead between FF7 and Advent Children, I provided this information to just let you know I'm not randomly choosing numbers.**

**Little bit of a time jump between last chapter and this one.**

~~~~Fang's POV~~~~

"You damn well know what's up!" I shouted at the black haired warrior using the other device "Why haven't you called in?"

"Sorry, slipped my mind," he replied innocently. I sighed at his remark.

"Right... What's your status?" I knew I said 'status' strangely because it is just a word I don't use often.

"Great, great! Snow and Hope are great too, by the way. How are you?" he asked cheerfully at the end. Such a child.

"I'm great, you're great, everybody's great," I said quickly out of stress "Put Snow on," I turned to the pink haired woman, glancing at the silver haired man keeping an eye on the alley entrance "Reunion time," I said as I handed the device to Lightning "Figure out a rendezvous point," I could she was not jumping at the chance to use the device "Don't sweat it. That line's hyper-encrypted," she sighed as she brought it to her face.

"I'm not your sister," was the first thing she said "We'll meet at Hope's place. Felix Heights thirty five A," she went quiet for a long moment before talking again. "Snow. Listen to me. It's about Hope. His mother was-" Lightning turned away from me as she spoke "Hope? Hope! Answer me! Hope," I walked around in front of her before speaking.

"Yelling doesn't fix it. It's called interference," I said with a smirk "You can chitchat when we get there," the silver haired man walked over to us "I've got point, you fall in behind. Alright Pretty Boy?"

"My name is Sephiroth," he calmly stated.

"Yeah, whatever. Just watch our backs," I said to Pretty Boy "And you," I said to Lightning "See if you can't cool off that head of yours," with that said, we left the alley.

We fought our way through a few groups of PSICOM and Guardian Corps soldiers and one of their machines. While we were fighting, I was constantly distracted by Pretty Boy. He perfectly combined attacking with his sword and magic, and seamlessly changed between attacking and defending. From what I could tell, when Pretty Boy had both his hands on that stupidly long sword of his, he was focusing on regular attacks, when he one handed his sword he used both magic and enhanced his weapon with magic, and for defense he had one hand on the handle with the guard under his pinky and one hand on the blade of the sword.

I could not help but notice many similarities between Pretty Boy and Lightning when they fought. They both relied on swiftly attacking instead of using brute force like me, both were quite acrobatic. Lightning was a very aerial fighter while Pretty Boy barely left the ground but he still used flips quite regularly. Pretty Boy's hair seemed to have the same trailing effect as Lightning's red cape and most of the time, it was the only part of them my eyes could track.

We came upon a corner and I waved for the other two to stop as I looked around it. The way was clear but I knew the three of us needed a break.

"Who are you?" Lightning asked me. I assumed she had finally taken note of my brand. I let out a breath and scratched my head as I wandered away from the wall. Pretty Boy was giving me a blank look.

"Where do I start?" I chuckled slightly as an idea formed "I've got a few screws loose, but I'm a l'Cie, same as you," Lightning let out a questioning sigh and Pretty Boy just stood there with his bright green eyes showing no form of interest "Difference being..." I took a breath, not entirely sure why I did though "...I wasn't born on Cocoon," Lightning took a step back as if I had just sprouted wings or something "I'm from Gran Pulse. The 'world below' you all hate so much. My partner and I'd turned to crystal there and gone to sleep. But when we came around, here we were. The reason Cocoon's in such an uproar is the same reason you're here now. Vanille and I woke up."

Just as I finished speaking, to Cocoon military machines flew overhead. Lightning looked to be dumbfounded and Pretty Boy just shook his head.

"I'm glad I was correct in my assumption," Pretty Boy stated without emotion, he was starting to bug me "It is painfully obvious you and Vanille are not from Cocoon. However, now is not the time or place to discuss such matters," he walked around the corner and motioned for us to follow him. I wanted, no... Needed to ask him about Vanille but we already moving again.

We set off through the alleys and backstreets of this Cocoon city, that I did not care to learn the name of. After a few fights, Pretty Boy allowed Lightning to take the lead. I was starting to think that Pretty Boy was not from Cocoon either. He obviously had no idea where he was going and only shared a few traits with the people or military of Cocoon, including his speech. Finesse and highly trained bodies were common between him and Light but his weapon and eyes were very different, they were Pulsian. The way he looked at enemies was the same way a hunter eyed their prey... No, it was different from that... He had the eyes of the Zirnitra Wyverns, the most dangerous beasts in the skies, predators that knew other predators were afraid of them.

Honestly, I was enchanted by his eyes, no one other than him had that level of danger in just their eyes. Although, Lightning was second to him but her tempered ice cold glare simply did not compare to the raw ferocity and blood lust in Pretty Boy's predator gaze. I could feel heat rising into my face as I thought about the eyes of the silver haired warrior that was little more than eight feet away from me and quickly forced myself to think of Vanille, where she could be, and how I was going to help her. I would not be caught blushing over just the thought of someone, that is something that happened to Vanille, not me.

After an hour or two, we had found our way under a bridge. There was a pipe firmly bolted to the wall so I sat down on it and placed my lance on my lap. Lightning and Pretty Boy continued to stand and keep their eyes on the way we came from and where we were headed. It was almost as if they were trying to out soldier each other. I found it amusing to watch.

"Take a break, we've earned it," I said to the two. Lightning turned to me with her arms crossed, Pretty Boy ignored me.

"Why don't yo take this time to explain?" Lightning said to me. I sighed before I began.

"When we came out of crystal stasis, we didn't remember our focus or what we'd done. All we could do was wander Cocoon, looking for what we'd lost," I started to tell them part of what happened.

_Vanille and I stopped running as we came across an open elevator and I spun around to make sure no one was on our tail. Vanille and I turned to each other and she spoke._

"_Let's give up! Forget our Focus, we don't need it!" Vanille was trying very hard to convince me._

"_We don't need it?" I asked back, some frustration in my voice "Look, if we don't figure it out and pull it off, you're gonna be a Cie'th," I was trying hard to not yell at her, I have never yelled at Vanille, not once. But that was threatening to change because Vanille knew what would happen if she didn't complete her focus and was choosing to pretend it was a fairy tale._

"_It's just – making a kid that young a l'Cie? It's not right!" Now Vanille had plenty of frustration in her voice._

"_Yeah, it's unfair," I said harshly "But guess what? We grin and bear it like good l'Cie, or the fal'Cie starts making more. Like that girl the other day," Vanille's expression changed as if I had just smacked her "It doesn't matter what our Focus is. We do it, whether we like it or not," I found it hard to believe I had to lecture Vanille on something we already knew._

"_But-" Vanille started but I cut her off._

"_Say we call it quits. You think these people will let us go? They'll lynch us in the street," I noticed how soft my voice had grown. I stepped forward and placed my hands on her shoulders, my lance still in my right hand "Listen, Vanille. We do what we've gotta do and get ourselves off this filthy world, as fast as we can," I lead her into the elevator as I spoke._

"_Fang?" Vanille asked. It was killing me that I was about to leave her alone._

"_You get of here first. I'll buy you some time," I turned and started walking away as Vanille whined like a puppy "Now don't you worry. I'll come and find you, no matter where you go," I walked back into the elevator, pushed some buttons on the panel and swung my lance at it, breaking it. As the door started to close, I pushed Vanille down and back flipped through the door._

"_Wait! Fang!" Vanille shouted as the doors shut with a hiss, she sounded so hurt and panicked that all I wanted to do was break down that door and comfort her "Fang! Please! Don't leave me!" her voice grew quiet as the elevator moved upward._

"_You're not gonna end up a Cie'th," I said quietly to the door. The sound of footsteps caught my attention and I ran away from the elevator doors "You boys coming or not? Your fight's right here!" I shouted at them. _

"By the time I took care of 'em all, Vanille was long gone. After that, Raines and his Cavalry found me. I never stopped searching for Vanille, but I couldn't find her. Her, or our Focus."

"So, you're telling me Serah will come back to life someday, too?" Lightning asked me, the disbelief was thick in her voice. The area had an orange tint as the sun began to set.

"Yep," was all I responded with "We didn't do our job right. That's why it made her a l'Cie. We messed up. Sorry," I knew apologizing was not going to help. Lightning stepped in front of me and I lifted my head to meet her gaze. My head suddenly moved to the left and a sharp pain exploded through the right side of my jaw "That it?" I asked, I was expecting to be hit again.

"You sure better hope so," Lightning nearly growled. I noticed Pretty Boy looking over at us, the sound of the hit must have caught his attention. He had an expression with zero emotion in it and that got on my nerves instantly, I did not like not being able to read people "But whether we're square, that's up to Serah."

"You sound exactly like Snow," I said to Lightning. She rolled her eyes, turned away from me and crossed her arms again "And _he_ didn't hit me."

"Wait, he already knows this?" Lightning said, much closer to growling than before. She really was a ray of sunshine wasn't she?

"Wow," I said under my breath. I grabbed my lance and stood up "That's a load off. Glad I apologized!" I knew I appeared far more cheerful than I should be but that didn't matter to me.

"You apologized so you'd feel better?" Lightning spat without looking at me.

"Guess so," I quipped, I was curious how long of a fuse her temper had "How about you? Feel any better now that you hit me?" Lightning huffed at me.

"It didn't change anything."

"Tell that to my jaw," I rubbed where she hit me as a ghost of the pain appeared. Yep, she really was a ray of sunshine, just lighting up wherever she was. I glanced over to Pretty Boy and he had a strange look in his eyes. It was as if he was trying to study our conversation but just couldn't figure out what happened "Something on your mind, Pretty Boy?" his eyebrows drew together in a half-assed glare at me.

"Felix heights is up there," Sunshine said to us, we walked over to her to see where she meant "Still a ways before we get to Hope's place."

"Better pick it up," I commented.

"We'll head through that gate," Sunshine pointed at a bridge that was a fair ways off.

"Right," I said to let her know I heard her.

There were plenty of soldiers between us and the bridge but nothing we couldn't handle. The only problem we encountered was on the bridge, one of Cocoon's metal behemoths. Pretty Boy ran at it and swung his sword at its leg, the sword bounced off its leg leaving only a scratch. I'm not sure why he had done that or what he was expecting to happen. He jumped back and away from the creature as it turned to him and ignored me and Sunshine.

For the rest of the battle with this beast, me and Pretty Boy switched who was holding its attention while Sunshine and one of us attacked it. When the metal beast stood up and drew its sword our strategy did not change but whoever was holding its attention had to dodge quite a bit more. It was a tough fight, but we were able to put it down.

"Okay. Let's get the boys on the line," I said to no one as I pulled out the small device and sat near the bottom of the steps "Damn thing's still jammed. Eh, they can take care of themselves."

"We'll just have to believe that," Sunshine commented.

"Hey, Fang," Sunshine started "The others are safe right? If any of us got caught, they'd make an announcement."

"Yeah they would," I said with a slight chuckle "They'd have to let everyone know that the big, bad l'Cie can't hurt 'em no more."

"They'll be fine, Zack Fair wouldn't let anything happen to them," Pretty Boy said flatly. It was surprising to hear him talk without being prompted.

"These Cocoon people – bunch of cowards and blowhards," I said with a smirk to Pretty Boy.

"'These Cocoon people' have spent centuries under fal'Cie law, in constant fear of a Pulse invasion," Sunshine had a lecturing tone "If it weren't for Serah, I'd have been out there too. Hunting l'Cie. Would have been nothing but targets to me," Sunshine had wandered over to the side of the bridge and just looked out into the distance.

"Well, Gran Pulse is just as twisted. 'Cocoon's a floating nest of Vipers, ready to strike.' Or so I thought," I wasn't sure what emotion worked its way into my voice but I knew I sounded sad.

"The two worlds living in fear of each other," Sunshine and I turned to Pretty Boy, it was mainly his amused tone that grabbed my attention "If I didn't know better, I would say the fal'Cie of Cocoon and Gran Pulse were working together."

"What?" Sunshine and I said together.

"Keeping the populace paralyzed in fear is one of the best ways to control them. Especially if the 'enemy' is something or someone completely unknown to the people in question," Pretty Boy stated "That strategy gives one the power to accuse anyone of being the enemy and the people will thoughtlessly follow whatever directions are given to them. Of course the best evidence against the fal'Cie being in cahoots is our Focus."

"Destroying the nest of 'vipers' is our Focus," Sunshine said. I sighed and stood up.

"Until we woke up here, we'd been in crystal stasis," I walked over to Sunshine and left Pretty Boy standing alone behind us "Which means, we must've completed our first Focus," I sighed for hundredth time "Why can't I remember that part? My childhood's clear as day. But the one thing I need – it's just gone. Blank. Like an empty page. I reach for the memory, and nothing's there. Then there's my brand. It's all messed up," we started slowly walking down the second set of stairs.

"Those could be side effects of crystal stasis," Pretty Boy calmly suggested "As to why Vanille's brand isn't like yours, that's anyone's guess."

"Vanille and me, we lost our past and our Focus," I continued, Pretty Boy didn't sound like he was expecting a response.

"And you want to find them? Be a Pulse l'Cie? An enemy of Cocoon?" Sunshine really enjoyed asking questions that did not have a straightforward answer.

"Pulse and Cocoon can rot for all I care. If I don't figure out our Focus soon..." I trailed off as I looked down at my open hands "...Vanille's gonna be a Cie'th," I laced my fingers together and looked straight ahead "I'll tear down the sky if it'll save her," Silence fell over us as we stood there at the bottom of the stairs to the bridge.

"We're not gonna find her by standing around," Pretty Boy commented. I lifted my head and motioned for Sunshine to lead on.

**I hope I did a good job with Fang's point of view. Let me know if there is anywhere that should be improved/changed. In all honesty, I feel like I didn't quite capture her in the text and I didn't know when to end this chapter.**

**Please leave a Review.**

**A note for the future: I am going to tweak Genesis and Angeal's personalities to my liking because Crisis Core does not give a very good picture for what kind of people they are. I promise to keep them within the realm of possibility.**


	20. Chapter 20

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

Our path took us through a few more fights, which I was perfectly okay with. The rather constant fights kept my mind from straying into unfriendly thoughts. Thoughts related to… Well most my life, to be honest. Few memories for me are not about fighting, killing, or witnessing death. The few that are, dare I say, happy, usually included Angeal, Genesis, or them both, but I am instantly reminded of them leaving Shinra by those memories. So I focus on fighting, analyzing my current mission, or sorting through the information I have been mentally compiling on my current comrades.

Fang, a tribal woman by appearance. Has quite some skill with that lance, albeit her style is a bit slow and clunky as opposed to my fast and flawless swordplay. I should give her some pointers at sometime, I do have some experience with that type of weapon. She appears to be carefree and always looking for the fun part of things but her constant sarcasm wears on my nerves to no end, a lot like Angeal in those ways.

Lightning, a soldier of Cocoon. Clearly knows how to use her weapon to its fullest and maximize its lethality, although her knowledge of sword styles is rudimentary as she only uses one style. A calm and serious attitude obviously linked to her soldier background, clearly does not know when to relax, common traits between me and her.

There are some similarities between the three of us however. We three are quite strong but in different ways, Lightning's strength is her speed, Fang is physically powerful, and I have both speed and strength because of Mako enhancement. We are each natural leaders but I allow them to take point merely because I haven't the slightest idea of where we are going. Not to mention, we are nearly trying to show up each other in combat.

Damn you Angeal and Genesis for making me so competitive.

As I sorted through all the information I currently knew, I was fully aware of the world around me. Fang was currently trying to take point, Lightning trying to stay in the lead, and myself lingering back allowing these polar opposite women to lead me. I will admit to myself that both Fang and Lightning are very attractive, more than once I caught myself studying how well Fang's blue… fabric… thing hugged her curves, or watching how much Lightning's hips swayed. Every time I caught myself, I banished those thoughts. I am a warrior, SOLDIER First Class Sephiroth, the ultimate soldier, not some tactless kid that stares at a woman's behind.

_Admit it, you like to 'window shop,' don't you? _Fine, I will admit that there is nothing wrong with looking. But I am not that kind of person. _So what, you are better than others so you don't have to look? _I didn't mean that at all. _So what did you mean? _I meant, I'm not the one that 'window shops' as you put it. _Is it possible that there is a part of you that misses having women fawning over you?_ No, those people were just doing what they were told to do by reporters. The media gave me the 'Hero' title, I was just doing my job. _That was long after you had a few fan clubs._ Fair enough. _If you really didn't want those 'broads' climbing all over you, why did you keep your hair so long? That's what they loved most about you._ I, uh, shut up. _I'm just your inner voice of reason, you know I can't shut up._ No wonder my brain made you sound like Genesis.

I was so lost in my argument with myself I nearly walked into Fang. She was at the bottom of a set of stairs and just in front of Lightning. Without wasting a breath, and saving myself some embarrassment, I turned to the side, walked by Fang and examined the area for any threats. Glad I mastered the 'Play-a-mistake-off-as-a-deliberate-action" technique long ago.

"Hey, Lightning," I heard Fang say.

"Call me Light," Lightning said in, probably, the most friendly tone I have heard from her.

"Did you see Vanille's brand?" Fang asked Lightning.

"No," Lightning replied with a tone of curiosity.

"What about you, Pretty Boy?" my response was a half growl and a shake of the head "No, huh?" the three of us walked a bit further up the wide alley "Want to know how long until it's Cie'th city?" I turned slightly at Fang's question, just enough to show my interest "Just look at your brand," easier said than done in my case "You start getting more arrows, and then finally an eye. Once it opens all the way, you're done," my enhanced hearing just barely detected the sound of a zipper "Let's have a look. Don't be shy."

I turned enough to see over my shoulder. Lightning was facing away from me and Fang was bent slightly, her face in line with Lightning's chest. As the fact of 'not having any idea what was going on' dawned on me, I felt my left eyebrow climb up involuntarily just as Fang looked over Light's shoulder. The smirk on her face told me my expression must have been rather amusing. Fang stood up fully and looked back to Lightning.

"Nowhere near. You got time," Fang then whispered something to Lightning.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

No words can say how uncomfortable this is. I am nearly flashing Fang with Sephiroth standing about ten feet away. I was looking down, trying to see my brand and I could see most of it but as I looked back up I saw a smirk on Fang's face. It was difficult to keep myself from hitting her in the jaw again but the urge was stifled when I noticed she was looking over my shoulder.

Maybe Serah was right when she said I was a little overly defensive about my figure. Now I wish that thought never crossed my mind. Don't worry Serah, I will avenge you.

"Nowhere near. You got time," Fang said to me. When did she stand up fully? "By the way, where is Pretty Boy's mark?" Fang whispered.

"He said his back," I whispered back, for some reason. I then zipped up my vest.

"Eh, Pretty Boy, let's take a look at your brand," Fang said to Sephiroth, who had fully turned around.

"No," Sephiroth replied flatly.

"Why?" Fang asked as she tilted her head.

"Because you call me Pretty Boy," I am pretty sure I heard Sephiroth wrong because that was a very childish reply.

"Fine, _Sephiroth._ Now take off that coat," Nope, I heard Sephiroth correctly. Fang also sounded rather demanding with her request. I wanted to find it odd but it seemed normal for her.

With a sigh, Sephiroth unfastened the one buckle holding his coat closed at his waist. He lifted each pauldron off his shoulders and let his coat fall to his wrists. I was nearly stunned by the sight. His muscles were perfectly defined and developed, his build was lean and meant for speed, his shoulders were broad, and there wasn't a single scar on him, from what I could see, not even a blemish of any sort. He is definitely the most handsome man I have ever seen, he is almost impossibly good looking. I had to force my eyes away from his torso. That's when I noticed he had two belts around his waist, under the large belt with the military rank pin, and both his boots had two belts of their own, above and below his knees. Wherever Sephiroth is from, they clearly are not acquainted with buttons or zippers.

"Your fine. Lotsa time," I just noticed Fang taking the opportunity to shamelessly check him out. I felt a spike of something, envy maybe, but that didn't make any sense. I only ever got 'territorial' when I was forcing some jackass to leave Serah alone.

Sephiroth calmly put his coat back on, replacing the pauldrons on his shoulders. The leather creaked and his steel shoulder plates clicked together as he pulled at and fidgeted under his coat. Once the coat was resting comfortably, I'm assuming, he fastened the top buckle and glanced over at me. I quickly diverted my gaze over his shoulder, hoping he didn't catch me staring like a schoolgirl. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him adjusting his long bangs, as they got pulled awry by him dealing with his coat.

"-know. Some people, doesn't take so long," Oh, crap. How long has Fang been talking? And how did she get so far away from Sephiroth? I really need to not let my mind wander like that ever again "You get a nasty shock, it can speed up the process. Vanille's brand must be pretty far along by now," Fang's tone was somber, clearly worried about Vanille "I've got to save her and get her home."

"To Pulse, you mean?" I stated, more than asked to prove I had been listening.

"To _Gran_ Pulse," Fang corrected me "I hear that the Sanctum prevents people from leaving Cocoon. I'd like to see 'em try and stop me," I could hear her smirk.

"So, that's your plan?" Sephiroth asked Fang.

"Wish I had one," I said flatly "Without Serah, without a future, there's nothing to plan for. There's no way out of this mess, and no way to fight it. I'm stuck trading blows with the Sanctum, but that's no plan. Even with if we topple the government, where's that leave us? With nothing to fight for? I might as well be dead," I was vaguely aware of myself pacing as I rambled.

"Your sister," Sephiroth stated calmly.

"You've got plenty to fight for. Think about it," Fang said, agreeing with Sephiroth "Don't you wanna see Serah, after she wakes up?" of course I wanted to see Serah, more than anything "That's your future right there. All you gotta do is survive. It's simple!" Fang finished with a laugh.

"Right," I replied with sarcasm. I started walking away when the sound of velocycles racing by overhead caught my attention "Snow," I assumed they were after him.

"They found 'em!" Fang shouted as she jogged up beside me. Off in the distance, three fireballs erupted into view followed by the sound of the explosions.

The three of us instantly started running towards the site of the explosions. I'm not sure why I had said Snow's name when I was truly worried about Hope. I told Snow to keep the poor kid safe, I should have known they would be located by PSICOM, especially that oaf.

We had to fight through several small groups of PSICOM and Guardian Corps soldiers but none of them were that dangerous. They were just irritating because our progress was being slowed. We had to reach Snow, Hope, and that black haired guy that I never learned the name of. As we cut our way through the soldiers, the sound of engines and large guns grew louder.

As we reached the top of the stairs, I instantly recognized the large orange and white machine. A PSICOM Ushumgal Subjugator. I was surprised to see Hope and the black haired guy fighting it, even though the black haired guy looked injured.

"Not bad, kids!" Fang cheer as she ran up beside Hope.

"Where's Snow?" I called to Hope.

"He's okay!" Hope called back to me.

"Sure you're up to this?" Fang asked me with a cocky tone.

"Thing will never know what hit it," I replied as I pulled out Blaze Edge and kept it in gun mode.

Fang and Sephiroth kept the Subjugator's attention off of Hope and I so we could hit it with a stream of spells. While it was on the ground, I sent spell after spell of thunder at it, hoping I would be able to fry some circuits. Hope was obviously using the same tactic. When the machine became airborne, we all focused on dodging the attacks from the small armory built into the Subjugator. But after several minutes of fighting the damn thing, we did no visible damage.

Out of the corner of my vision, I saw a purple light appear from Sephiroth's back and travel down his right arm. The amethyst sphere he got from Zalera appeared in his hand, he threw the crystal out in front of him and slashed it. Zalera appeared in a flurry of black feathers and I followed suit by summoning Odin.

The two Eidolons perfectly complimented each other. Odin was up front attacking with his double-bladed sword, Zantetsuken, while Zalera hung back and threw spells at the Subjugator. Odin was able to cut through the armor of the machine and Zalera's spells looked to be having much more of an affect than ours.

"Zalera!" Sephiroth called out.

I looked over just in time to see Sephiroth leap into the air and have Zalera grab his arm. The always flying, wing-for-an-arm, Eidolon spun once and launched Sephiroth at the large red machine. Sephiroth used his momentum to slam his sword into one of the gashes made by Odin and sink several feet of the blade into the machine. Sephiroth jumped off the machine, rolled when he hit the ground, and was on his feet in an instant.

"Focus thunder spells on the Masamune," Sephiroth said to me and Hope. Using his sword as a lightning rod, rather smart against this enemy.

I allowed Odin to continue attacking with his sword, as he was keeping the attention off of us. Hope, Sephiroth, Zalera and I sent bolt after bolt at the exposed area of the sword's blade. The Subjugator had started to twitch and shake badly. With one final bolt from Zalera, the red machine stopped shaking and fell over. We had fried its circuits and most likely completely destroyed its generator with an overload.

Sephiroth walked over to the machine and pulled his sword free before making glow yellow and vanish. I heard Hope walk over to me and turned to him. He was holding out my survival knife, the one I got from Serah on my birthday.

"Um… Operation Nora didn't work out," I was so glad to see that Hope was okay, I stepped forward and pulled him into a hug.

"You'll be okay. I'll keep you safe," I heard myself say.

"Lightning. I – me too. I mean, at least I'll try. I'll try to watch out for you, too," Hope said queitly. I let him go and stepped back. I used one finger to push his head back slightly, which made us both chuckle for some reason.

~~~~Fang's POV~~~~

The moment Sunshine and Kid shared was rather cute. I had no idea led to it but that didn't matter. I had walked over to Snow, who I only noticed after the fight. He was laying on his back and looked to be unconscious. I jabbed him with my foot a few times then looked around.

I saw Zack look over and make eye contact with Sephiroth. For less than an instant there was pure hatred in Zack's eyes, as fast as it appeared it was gone. Sephiroth sharply broke eye contact and used his bangs, which I now noticed were as long as Sunshine's hair, to shield his face. I was getting more and more curious about these guys.

"Don't forget about this one," I said loud enough for them to hear me.

"That one will be all right," Sunshine said as she walked over to help me with the behemoth of a man "He's too stubborn to die," Sunshine draped one of Snow's arms over her shoulders and pulled him to his feet.

"Hey!" I heard a deep voice shout "Everyone alright up here?" I turned towards the voice and saw a man the same size as Snow, if not bigger, but in the same clothes as Zack and with straight black hair. Next to the large man was a man in a red trench coat, with red gloves, a red sword on his hip, black clothes similar to Zack, and he had jaw length reddish-brown hair.

"Of course they are alright. _For you are beloved by the goddess_," the man in red said. There was a very faint accent that gave his voice a trait like Vanille's. I think people called it poetic.

"Angeal!" Zack called out in a very cheerful tone as he hobbled over, I had not noticed he had been favoring his right leg before now.

"Zack! Great to see you!" Angeal, I'm guessing, called out as the two black haired men met in a very 'manly' hug. 'Angeal' pushed Zack away after a long moment.

"Genesis," Zack said with a nod towards the red man.

"Zack," the red man replied with a nod.

"Oh, let me help you," Angeal said as he started walking towards Sunshine and Snow.

"How did you find us?" Sephiroth asked with the first tone other than flat I've heard from him.

"We tracked you," Genesis replied with a small wave "Not to mention you guys haven't exactly been subtle. Creating glaciers and causing rather large explosions are an excellent way to attract the eyes of both sides. On that note, we should keep moving."

I turned around after Genesis was done talking and nearly dropped my jaw in surprise. That Angeal guy had Snow over his shoulder and looked as if he were only holding a child. I knew Sunshine and Kid (and most likely Snow) were just as surprised, but the other three looked like it happened every day.

Sunshine decided to help Zack because of his injured leg and the rest of us just walked behind Kid. When we reached Kid's house, as he let us know, he pushed a button and the door was open in less than ten seconds. The blond man with glasses that stood in the doorway looked quite surprised, I would be too if a group like us suddenly appeared on my doorstep, that brought up my want to go home with much more force.

"Hope!" The blond man had a very relieved tone.

"Mom's gone," Kid sounded like he was about cry.

"What?" The blond man sounded both confused and devastated "Quick, come in! All of you!"

**Well, the four SOLDIER First Class Operatives are now reunited. **

**There is chapter 20 for you. Not much for me to say here. Other than, if something seemed a little out of character at any point, anything seemed rushed or subpar, or any continuity errors, tell me so I can fix it.**

**Please leave a Review. Points and cookies to those who leave a review.**


	21. Chapter 21

~~~~Fang's POV~~~~

I couldn't help but smile as I watched Hope and his father talk. It was always good to see a family reunited, no matter the circumstances. I leaned against the wall beside the door to the room where Hope and his father were and said a silent prayer for Vanille's safety. I have to find her.

Getting bored with leaning against the wall, I push myself upright and started walking around Hope's house. The Cocoon style is so open and spread out it unnerved me. It all just screamed false security, no sign of being ready. I spotted the four mystery men standing in a corner talking about something. I was just able to catch some of their conversation.

"So you have a clock on your life but no idea how much time is left?" Angeal asked the floor, judging by where he was looking.

"That's what I have been able to figure out so far," Sephiroth replied. He had his arms crossed and was leaning on his right leg, just the mirror image of how Sunshine sometimes stands.

"But then-" Genesis started but looked over at me. The other three looked over a moment later, it was rather unnerving to have the four of them staring at me. That's when I noticed Angeal, Genesis, and Zack had bright blue eyes and Sephiroth had bright green eyes "Would you like something?" Genesis asked me in a less than friendly tone.

"Why are you guys hiding over here?" I asked cheerfully, ignoring Genesis.

"We were talking about our current mission," Angeal answered. Sephiroth, Zack and Genesis walked away from the corner, leaving me and Angeal alone "Sorry about Genesis."

"What?" I was actually confused by what he said.

"He is actually a nice guy. It's just that he – no, each of us has been through quite a bit," Angeal had a look saying he was remembering something.

"What made him so prickly?" I couldn't help but ask.

"It's not my place to talk about it," Angeal said before walking off.

I made my way back to the main room of Hope's house. Genesis was sitting on the couch and reading a book, I decided against asking him what he was reading. He would probably bite my head off for distracting him. So instead I went over to the television and switched it on. It was set to the news and I swear I heard Genesis growl at the noise, which made me smirk.

"Now for an update on the situation in Palumpolum. The l'Cie continue their desperate flight and the military has now launched an all-out campaign to eliminate them," As the reporter spoke, I walked backwards towards the couch and sat on the end closest to the television.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

I could faintly hear the news report from the corner near the front door. I was focusing on analyzing every individual fiber of the carpet to keep my mind from straying. My attention had become so directed, I didn't notice Zack walk up in front of me until I saw his boots. When my gaze met his, I was expecting to see his usual carefree spark but a raging inferno of hatred burned in him.

"So why you?" Zack asked in the most threatening tone I've ever heard from him "Why were you chosen for this over Angeal, me, or even Cloud?"

"Believe me," I refused to show weakness, especially to Zack "I wish I could answer that. I have been wondering the same thing for a long while now."

"You said Aerith was with you for a while," I nodded "Where is she now?"

"With Sazh and Vanille,"

"Where are they?"

"I have no idea," I hadn't thought about them in a while "It's not my job to babysit, Zack. My mission is to help Lightning, that's it. If whoever sent me here wanted me to keep the others on a leash, they would've told me."

"Remember this, Sephiroth," Zack directed his index finger at me "You turn on them, I will finish what I started in Nibelheim," I couldn't help but chuckle at his threat.

"I would love to see you try," I replied with arrogance.

"Shouldn't be too hard. Cloud beat you three times," Now he was trying to make me mad.

"And yet here I am, alive and well," I noticed Angeal walking up behind Zack and decided to not say anything.

"Except this time, if you die, you stay dead."

"Zack!" Angeal barked, quiet enough so only Zack and I would hear him "The circumstances may be different but I will not tolerate my pupil speaking to a superior with that tone," Zack's burning hatred faded from his eyes as he let out a sigh "Now, I've been meaning to ask, where is my sword?"

"He passed it on to Cloud," I answered for Zack "It was the weapon that put me down the first two times."

"Oh," Angeal looked as if he regretted asking. I noticed Hope approaching from behind Angeal. Zack and Angeal followed my gaze to Hope.

"My dad said he'd like to talk to you guys," We followed Hope back to the main room and stood beside Genesis, opposite of the couch.

"Nice of you three to finally join us," Genesis shot at us in a whisper.

"Face to face like this, it's hard to believe you're all dangerous fugitives," Hope's father's statement couldn't more false in my case "But the entire world is scared to death of you l'Cie. No, not even just you. People who've helped you, bumped into you. Sometimes it's even people who've walked by one of you. They think they're 'tainted' and want every one of them Purged," Seems l'Cie share some traits of those who were victim of Geostigma.

"The Sanctum's a puppet of the fal'Cie!" Snow shouted from his place on the floor. Why is he kneeling when everyone else, other than us former SOLDIER, is in a chair? "To them, our lives don't mean anything at all. We'll stop this. Take down the Sanctum, _and_ save Cocoon."

"You've thought that through?" Hope's father asked Snow "If l'Cie take down the Sanctum, fear of Pulse will only get worse. It won't stop at fear. People will take up arms and stand against you," I was all to well acquainted with that pattern "Can you imagine it? The rampant violence?"

"When the government's control is gone, the citizens will revolt," Lightning said in a soft tone.

"So what then?" Fang asked, irritated after a moment of silence "We're supposed to just smile and eat a bullet? That means you, too."

"I know I'm part of this," Hope's father replied to Fang "I'm on your side of the fence. Harborer of l'Cie, and a public enemy," he sounded amused by this.

"_When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end, the goddess descends from the sky, wings of light and dark spread afar, she guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting_," Genesis quoted, making everyone look over to us "Cocoon was made and is maintained by fal'Cie. Even if we were to attempt to destroy it, something would step in to save it. Be it fate, a god of sorts, a 'hero', or whatever made the fal'Cie."

The lights suddenly flickered and went out, everyone who had been sitting was on their feet. I heard the faintest sound feet on the roof and the quiet hum of an engine. I had no idea what the engine could have been but I did know there were people on the roof, most likely soldiers.

"Heads up!" Lightning and I shouted.

The sky light shattered and three grenades fell to the floor. Fortunately, they were smoke bombs and not filled with tear gas or actual explosives. Windows shattered and soldiers poured into the house.

"Hope! In the back!" Snow shouted. His tone clearly displayed how injured he still was.

"You're not ready for this," I heard Hope say "I'll stay here," Lightning, Zack, Genesis, Fang, and myself started to fight the soldiers with hand to hand "Snow. Help my dad!"

"Angeal!" Genesis called.

"Assist Snow!" I finished for Genesis.

Lightning, Fang, Zack and Genesis, were able to switch to using their weapons after the first wave of soldiers. I stepped into the back row and joined Hope in spell casting. The Masamune would only hinder me while fighting inside this house and fighting without a weapon would only get me in the way of the others. Two soldiers with, what I classified as jetpacks, flew down and joined the fight. I guess that explains the engine noise I heard.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

We fought through several squads of PSICOM soldiers pretty easily. With Fang and Zack at my sides and Hope and Sephiroth supporting us, PSICOM didn't stand a chance. We took cover by the window as a large gunship hovered close by and a battalion of soldiers covered the yard.

"Who ordered the battalion?" Fang asked sarcastically.

"Zack, take a look," Sephiroth said.

"I've had enough guns pointed at me to last a lifetime," Zack replied.

"They'll take out the whole building next," I stated to the others. PSICOM was more than willing to obliterate most of the city block to wipe us out. I waved over Snow, Hope's father, and Angeal. Hope ran over to his father.

"Thank goodness! Are you hurt?" Hope's father asked him.

"No. How about you?" Hope asked back.

"Still in one piece," Hope's father replied. I was looking around the corner at the massing PSICOM troops. I'm not sure we will be able to get out this one alive.

"My turn," I heard Snow say.

I looked back in time to see him take off his coat. We switched places at the corner we had been hiding behind and Snow took a breath before holding his coat out around the corner. Bullets ripped through the coat for several seconds.

"Don't shoot!" Snow shouted "I'll show you what a l'Cie looks like!" Surprisingly, the troops stopped firing. Snow walked out with his hands up and I could see dozens of laser sights on him "Me! I'm a l'Cie!" Snow shouted "Surprised? Expected some kind of monster? I'm flesh and blood like you! An ordinary citizen of Cocoon! Don't you get it? This has been our home our whole lives! How could we even think about destroying it? We want to protect this place just as much as you!" I really hope Snow is able to convince them to … what would they do? I have no idea how this could possibly end in our favor, what I do know is, if I get out of this I don't want to have to tell Serah about what could happen to Snow.

"You must be Snow Villiers," I instantly recognized that voice, my former instructor Yaag Rosch. I crouched down by the corner and looked out through the window "Yaag Rosch, PSICOM Division. I understand your plight. However, the Pulse threat is not so easily dismissed. The very existence of you l'Cie puts every last one of us in danger. Tell me, do you really think your life is worth more than the lives of millions of Cocoon citizens? I do not. And so it falls to me to order your execution. It's that simple. It is my responsibility to see you put down. Your lives are forfeit."

"Aw, cut the crap!" Snow shouted as Rosch started to walk away "You want l'Cie, then kill l'Cie!" Bad choice of words Snow "Why do other people have to die? The Purge has got to stop!" Rosch spun towards Snow.

"Do you think we want to Purge our own people?" Rosch shouted back "If any trace of Pulse remains, the populace will erupt into chaos. Without sacrifice, without the Purge, Cocoon will die!"

Smoke suddenly appeared, surprising everyone. Before I was on my feet, Angeal bolted through the window, ran in front of Snow, and a green orb on his armband glowed before a barrier appeared in front of him.

"Who fired? I gave no order!" Rosch yelled through coughs.

Bullets ripped through the soldiers and smoke and pinged off of Angeal's barrier. I was on my feet and had Blaze Edge in hand, ready to fight whatever was going to appear. Several explosions rocked the area and I could tell everyone in the house was getting nervous.

"We're leaving," I stated to the others. Sephiroth walked over to Hope's father and took his tie.

"We threatened you and forced you to help us." Sephiroth stated as he used the tie to bind Hope's father's hands "Got it?" Sephiroth stood but remained behind Hope's father.

"There must be something else-" Hope's father started to say.

"Do as he says," I nearly shouted at him.

"Dad, I can't let you get dragged into this," Hope said sadly "I want to stay here. But there's no place for a l'Cie. I'm going with the others. We'll survive somehow. I promise you that. Dad, I hate to run out on you-"

"You're not running!" Hope's father shouted "This is not running away. You've made a choice. You'll survive and do what needs to be done," I looked at Sephiroth and his face was neutral, as always, but his eyes had a hint of sadness in them.

"You mean complete my Focus?" Hope asked.

"Don't you worry about that! You make the choice," Hope hugged his father for a moment.

"Thanks, Dad."

"Think better of me for this," Genesis said as he walked near Hope's father and used the pommel of his sword to knock out the blond man.

We all charged outside and saw Angeal supporting Snow and healing him.

"Our turn, Hero," I said to Snow as I dashed past him and stepped over the bodies of PSICOM soldiers and Yaag Rosch.

"What? I can handle a little gas," I heard Snow say jokingly.

"Catch your breath! I'll throw in some hits for you!" Hope shouted.

I was actually stunned by the fact that we were about to fight a Havoc class Skytank. It was unheard of for infantry to even damage one of them. But they had never been, because there was never an opportunity, tested against l'Cie.

"Zack! Fang!" Sephiroth shouted "Defend Genesis and Hope! Angeal, aid Snow! Hope, Genesis, give me and Lightning cover! Lightning, summon Odin!" I did as Sephiroth said and summoned Odin. At the same time he summoned Zalera.

It took us a long time but we were able to destroy the Skytank. We had to focus on hitting the numerous engines with electric spells in hopes of short circuiting them. In the end, with Odin and Zalera assisting us, we just completely destroyed the engines. As the Skytank was reduced to a fireball and fell, another one flew up and got ready to use its main cannon.

"Again? There's no end to these guys!" Fang shouted.

"Sephiroth!" Genesis called "Angeal, Zack, and I need to charge!" I am assuming he means the orbs he, Angeal, and Zack use for magic.

A bright orange-ish yellow beam ripped through the second Skytank, dropping it. Yet another Skytank flew in but pretty much landed in front of us. A hatch in the side opened and several PSICOM troops jogged out, not one looked like it wanted to fight us.

"Heya, Fang. Zack," the one in the middle said before taking off his helmet. The man had long brown hair and a cocky smirk "Need a ride?"

"Don't get cute," Fang said as she visibly relaxed "Right, let's move it."

"Guess we don't have much of a choice," Angeal stated as he helped Snow towards the ship.

We all got on the ship which promptly sealed the hatch and took off. I guess we are either walking straight into a trap, going to go find the other three, or going straight for the head of the Sanctum. Which ever it might be, we are going to be fighting a very long battle.

**Sorry about the wait. I don't have much to say other than, let me know if there is anything that I need to edit/change/add.**

**Please leave a review.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Well we are finally going to find out what Aerith, Vanille, and Sazh have been up to. By the way, this is the longest chapter I have ever written, for any story. Although compared to other authors on this site, its still not that long.**

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

After we got off the boat, Vanille knelt on the ground. I bent down beside her and tapped her arm. Sazh turned towards us and had a curious look.

"Hey, you okay?" I said quietly.

"Seasick?" Sazh asked her. Vanille stood up quickly.

"Nope, I'm fine," Vanille said back cheerfully.

"Okay then," Sazh and I said together as we stood. That's when I noticed I left my staff on the boat, didn't bother me that I lost it.

We walked through the port and I assumed Sazh and Vanille felt the same as me, surprised. There were no guards, soldiers, or even worried people. Everyone was smiling and looked to be having a great time. I was reminded of the Gold Saucer and I felt a smile grow on my face at the memory. It was wonderful to see so many people smiling and having fun, something I only saw at the Gold Saucer before. I felt a tear run down my cheek as I realized just how miserable the people of Gaia were, how hard life was for everyone on Gaia after Shinra was destroyed in Meteorfall.

"What's wrong?" Vanille asked me. I turned to see two big worried green eyes.

"I'm fine. Just a memory," I smiled to Vanille as I wiped off the tear.

"Not a lot of security here," Sazh commented. I was glad he didn't see me almost cry "For these people, the l'Cie panic must still seem like a waorld away," Sazh turned to us as we walked up beside him. Vanille was staring at a screen filled with symbols I did not know, the Cocoon language I'm assuming "Oh, hey. Looks like they're putting Eidolons on parade. It's starting soon. What do you say?" Sazh asked us with a wave of his hand.

"Let's go check it out," I said with a smile.

"Sure!" Vanille chirpped. Suddenly the screen changed to a news room with a brown haired woman on the right side.

_We interrupt this program to bring you a breaking news l'cie who surfaced in Palumpolum and attacked the city's citizens – _The image changed to an aerial view of Lightning, Hope, and Sephiroth – _are still on the run from authorities. Sanctum soldiers are tracking their location, but have yet to engage the fugitives – _Ice appeared and covered most of the area. A motorcycle with two riders, one of them definitely Snow, and someone on a board behind them rode down the ice – _The presence of hostages has been confirme –_ The camera zoomed in on the bike and the man on the board and I instantly recognized him.

"Zack," I whispered, with a smile.

"Fang," Vanille whispered with a worried tone. I only just heard her.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"It's her!" Vanille sounded like she was going to cry. Sazh looked over at Vanille.

"Yep. Looks like the army finally found 'em," Sazh thought Vanille was talking about Lightning.

"Hostages?" A man off to the side said "They should just blow 'em away with the l'Cie," I wish I could say that kind of attitude shocked me.

"They're all infected by Pulse, or something, by now," A woman said. Almost sounds exactly what people said about those hurt by Geostigma.

"The parade's about to start. Come on, let's go," Sazh's fatherly commanding tone was good to hear. I needed something else to think about right now. He put his hand on Vanille's back and led her away from the screen, with me close behind.

I was so happy to know that Zack was here too. I knew that eventually I would be reunited with him, he had promised me that he would protect me after all. Zack once said he was my hero and thinking about how proud he was to say that made me smile, I'm sure some people would think I was crazy for smiling at nothing but I was just so happy. But then I realized something else that wasn't quite so cheerful, Zack would be traveling with Sephiroth. Now Zack was not the kind of guy to show hatred towards anyone, but I knew Sephiroth and a man named Genesis were the exceptions. However, while me and Zack were in the lifestream, I learned that Zack had forgiven Genesis in the end, Zack said Genesis' actions were driven by manipulation and knocking on death's door.

I looked over at Vanille and instantly felt bad. While she was obviously depressed about something, I had been smiling like a maniac. If I had to guess, she really missed that black haired woman that had been with Zack and Snow.

"What's wrong?" I asked Vanille. She looked over to me and the depressed look fell away and a false cheerfulness filled her bright green eyes. Vanille was really good at hiding her emotions.

"Nothing. I'm fine," She said with a big smile.

The three of us walked across a bridge and into a big crowd. This must be where the show Sazh talked about must be happening. There looked to be a giant clock in the air that was counting down to the beginning of the show, I was assuming that's what it was, I could be very wrong.

"The show is starting. Look," Sazh said to us, while pointing to the big clock.

When the clock finished counting, it changed into a bunch of discs that gently floated down to us. Vanille jumped and caught one. A cute little blue creature came out of the disc and Vanille was giggling.

"It's party time, little lady!" the blue creature said. It flew away a moment after talking, I would have watched it but I felt a headache starting.

The pain was small and started in my left temple. I closed my eyes hoping it was just from the bright lights but it just started to get worse. My other temple started to throb so I put my right hand on my head and cast a small healing spell. Just as I expected, nothing happened, if anything the pain just got worse. The sounds of the crowd were drowned out by voices that I knew were in the lifestream, simply because it felt like a thousand people were shouting at me. While they were four inches away from my ears. It was an unbearable noise, I wanted to cover my ears and curl up to hide from the noise but both of those things are useless when the noise is inside your head. I wanted to scream at them to be quiet and tell me what was wrong, I had to focus on just one voice, find the loudest and focus on them.

Then a calm chuckle. It was a woman's voice, it sounded so close I could almost feel her breathing down my neck. I knew it wasn't a woman standing behind me, it was another voice of the lifestream. A dark, powerful voice of pure evil. Jenova was laughing at me.

"I'm coming for you, Cetra," Jenova was talking directly to me "Go ahead and run, you won't escape me. You and your friends will be in my grasp before this day is out."

Jenova's voice disappeared as fast as it appeared. It was suddenly quiet. No voices, no shouting, no headache. Just the noise of the show and the people around me commenting on it. The chills running down my spine were so strong that I was shivering. Jenova wasn't just on Cocoon, she was here in Nautilus. She was personally coming after me simply because I am a Cetra, well half-Cetra. Not only am I supposed to compete with Jenova in keeping Sephiroth on our side but now I will have to fight her? I won't even dare to hope that I can beat her, she wiped out an entire civilization by herself.

Wait... wait, wait, wait. Why would Jenova come after me and not go after Sephiroth? What would happen to Sazh and Vanille when she catches us? I know she is going to catch us, we can't out run Jenova. Sephiroth may have been close to having the power of a god, but from what Cetra in the lifestream have said, Sephiroth doesn't compare to Jenova in either power or cruelty. But why is she after me? Is it because I am the last Cetra? Or is she planning… Oh no.

Sazh, Vanille and I are going to end up as bait.

How am I supposed to explain this to Sazh and Vanille? Am I hyperventilating? I need to sit down before I pass out.

"Aerith!" I heard Vanille shout. I saw how worried she was and I realized I must have been quite lost in very troubling thoughts "Are you okay? You look sick."

"You just need to rest and have a drink. Or three," Sazh commented. He looked quite worried as well "Hey, take her somewhere to sit, I'll go find us some water."

Vanille lead me over to a bench and we both sat. It took Sazh a while to return and the whole time I would not let myself think about what had made me miss the show. I felt terrible for wanting to hide it but if I tried to explain, they would just think I was insane. Right now, I needed someone to talk to who would believe me. Tifa, Cloud, Yuffie, Nanaki, Vincent, Zack, Sephiroth even, just someone who was from Gaia because they knew how bad this was. I glanced over to Vanille, expecting her to be watching me like a hawk, but she was emptily staring at her feet.

"Aerith, during the show," I had no idea what she might say so I didn't say anything "I think I heard someone talking to me," Okay then "Not like me talking to you right now, it was like her voice – nevermind. Doesn't matter." Vanille said quickly as Sazh approached us.

I could only dumbly stare at her. Is it possible that she had heard Jenova as well? No, that wasn't possible, only Cetra had the power of being able to hear the voices of those in the lifestream.

"You feel better after some water," Sazh said as he handed me a bottle of water.

"Thanks!" Vanille chirped as she grabbed one from Sazh. She had done a complete one-eighty from just before Sazh came back.

"Well you look much better," Sazh said to me "You had me worried for a moment. Went all pale and had your eyes shut tight."

"Just a bad headache from the lights and noise," I lied with a small smile "Probably didn't help that I was really thirsty."

"Where to next, ladies?" Sazh asked us. Me and Vanille glanced at each other, then back to Sazh.

"You decide," Vanille said happily.

"Your choice," I said at the same time and in the same way as Vanille. Sazh looked around as he thought, it was easy to see the gears turning in his head.

"I know!" Sazh said, pointing to the sky "A Nautilus Park date – with Sazh," I felt my eyebrows move into a questioning look that made Sazh chuckle.

"Okay!" I said cheerfully with a shrug.

"But should we really be playing around?" Vanille's cautious tone was the correct one to have right now.

"Forget about that heavy stuff for a while, and maybe this will just fade away," Sazh pointed to the mark on his chest with his thumb. If only he knew what was coming.

"Okay," Vanille chirped before standing. I followed Vanille's lead.

"Great! Let's roll!" Sazh said as he started to lead us toward a big gate.

When we were right in front of the big gate, Vanille spoke up.

"What's in Nautilus Park, anyway?" I was curious too but Vanille beat me to the punch.

"It's a huge," Sazh extended the U sound for a couple seconds "Amusement park, built by the Sanctum," So it was just like the Gold Saucer, with the exception of it not being powered by Mako "Bet they never expected l'Cie visitors," I bet they also didn't expect a guest from another world.

"So, is this place special?" I can only describe Vanille's tone as childish wonder. I have to admit, Vanille definitely has the cute thing down. Sazh turned away from us and put his hands on his hips.

"I promised Dajh," now I felt sad "I was gonna bring him some day. Hope I can at least tell him about it."

"You'll get the chance," Vanille nearly whispered.

"Everything will work out. Trust me on that one," How could they possibly trust me right now? I was hiding a really big secret that could put a lot of people in danger.

"Maybe. I do know where they're keeping him."

"Can we come with you?" Vanille asked cheerfully.

"Vanille," I said in a very motherly tone "Of course we're going with him. He wouldn't last five minutes without us," the three of us laughed at my little joke. It was not getting any easier to hide the secret of Jenova.

"What about you two?" Sazh asked as we stopped laughing "You got someone special out there?"

"Special? Nope," Vanille finished with a chuckle.

"Really?" Sazh sounded beyond bewildered "Now _that_ is kind of sad."

"Yeah," Vanille sadly agreed.

"He's kidding Vanille," I said to save Sazh "He didn't mean to upset you."

"Well, I'm just fine, thank you!" Vanille said as she spun around once. She made me think of a cross between me and Yuffie, maybe Vincent would tolerate Vanille "What about you?" Vanille asked me.

"Oh, uh," I felt a very small blush rise into my face, hopefully they couldn't see it "Remember that guy from the news report, the one on the board behind the bike?" Vanille and Sazh nodded "That's my boyfriend."

"He must really love you," Vanille said with a smile.

"He really does," I replied with a smile.

More than anything right now, I wanted to tell them everything. But they wouldn't believe me and even if they did, there was no way to change what was going to happen. Jenova was going to get us. May as well enjoy the Park while we are still free.

When we got into the Park, there were a bunch of chocobos and sheep. I was both excited and confused to see them. Excited because I love chocobos and little fluffy sheep. Confused because, well, they look exactly like the chocobos and sheep on Gaia.

The three of us walked through the zoo like part of Nautilus. Sazh and Vanille spent most of the time talking about something, I wasn't really paying attention. I was a bit preoccupied with thinking about how to survive a face to face with Sephiroth's so called mother. Not to mention I was busy petting chocobos and sheep, but mostly the first thing.

"They'll listen to a final request. They'll have to," Sazh caught my attention with that "Before the end, I want to talk to Dajh one last time. I want to tell him about these chocobos. I want to tell him about everything I've seen," Maybe I should have been listening to them. I was pretty sure Sazh meant to turn himself over, I hoped that wasn't the case.

"But wait! Sazh!" Vanille said.

"Listen, I don't want you to worry. You're not part of this, either of you. You'll have plenty of time to split before I surrender," So I was right. I wanted to say something to try to convince Sazh to not surrender but he only wanted to surrender so he could see his son. I was stuck.

"That's not what I meant!" Vanille stated.

"I'm sorry, Vanille, Aerith. I'm just… I'm tired of all this running."

"But – you can't!" Vanille sounded ready to cry.

"Vanille," I said softly.

"What about Dajh?" Vanille half shouted at Sazh "He's a l'Cie because of someone from Pulse. You can't give up without getting revenge! I know who it is. I know who's responsible! For the accident. The accident at Euride," Vanille sounded really close to crying. Sazh grabbed Vanille's shoulders and shook her slightly.

"Then tell me!" Sazh sounded furious, it was understandable.

"The l'Cie who ruined your life was–" Vanille was interrupted by chocobos running at us and gunshots hitting the ground at our feet.

"Soldiers?" I said by accident.

"Where'd they come from?" Sazh asked no one "Get out of here you two!"

We ran through the gate we were close to and across a drawbridge. Four soldiers stopped us and we froze in place. The bridge lifted behind us, cutting off our escape. Sazh stepped between Vanille, me, and the soldiers.

"No place left to run," Sazh said to us.

"It's the end l'Cie," one of the soldiers sad to us.

Vanille and Sazh, and I admittedly, were frozen. We just stood and stared at the four soldiers for a rather long moment. Long enough for me to prepare both a fire and lightning spell. Two soldiers were dead, sadly, killed by a bolt of lightning and a burst of fire. One of the two other soldiers was killed by two gunshots while they were distracted and the last was killed by ice, from Vanille.

"They won't let us surrender, we have to fight," I said to Sazh.

So we did just that. We fought. We pushed our way through the soldiers, which was not easy at all. Vanille Sazh and I were not actual fighters and we were against trained soldiers. In no way was it easy but I noticed that without my battle staff, I could cast a spell with each hand but I was left without a way to fight when enemies got to close. To make things worse, we wound up fighting a big robot. It took a long time to defeat it but we were able to. We focused on using bolt spells because I knew they were always effective against machines, Cid told me why, and when it was needed Vanille and I used healing spells and Sazh supported us. After we defeated the robot, I knew we were exhausted, it was tiring using so much magic.

I looked over to the tunnel, or rather hallway, behind where the robot had been, the robot had moved to the right of the hallway during the fight. There was a dark skinned kid with an afro, a blue sweater and brown overalls. He smiled and pointed to us.

"Daddy, I found you!" he said cheerfully.

"Wha?" Sazh shouted in surprise. The kid ran towards us and hugged Sazh's legs.

"Daddy! Got you!" the boy sounded so happy but the three of us were beyond dumbfounded.

"Dajh, why are you here?" Sazh sounded… horrified.

"Because you promised!" Dajh said cheerfully. Sazh bent down to one knee in front of Dajh.

My temples started to throb and my eyes widened. She is close.

"But… How did you get here?" Sazh asked the boy. Dajh looked so happy to see Sazh but a bright flash from Dajh interrupted the reunion. Sazh's little boy was now covered in crystal and I heard myself gasp. The throbbing in my head got stronger.

"Dajh! Wait! Come back!" I felt tears form in my eyes at the pain in Sazh's tone. "Dajh… Not you… Not you, Dajh!" Sazh was crying and my tears fell from my eyes.

A blond woman with six soldiers behind her walked up beside Dajh. She had a white and green uniform dress, which really showed off her cleavage, with gold trim and accessories, a long baton in her left hand, glasses with really thin frames, high heels, and long hair. Her blond hair hung down to her thighs and was styled in a way so it covered the right half of her face.

"The capture of undesirables," her voice sent chills down my spine, she was too calm "It seems that was your son's Focus. Dajh fulfilled it admirably, and served Cocoon in the process. You should be proud of him. Mr. Katzroy?" Vanille stepped between Sazh and the woman, who was just radiating the essence of villainy "Dajh was a great help. He could sense power of Pulse origin. That let us monitor you."

"You can not escape, Cetra. You are mine," I had actually forgotten about Jenova with what was happening. My headache said she was near but where was she? "You will know in time, Cetra," Jenova chuckling at me told me she could read my thoughts "I can read them like a book," That's when I noticed something, Jenova's voice in my mind was distorted "More like hidden, you foolish girl. I'm the only reason why you even know I am here," Why tell me then? What is the purpose of telling me? Jenova laughed at me "If I told you now, it would ruin my fun and my plans."

"Words can't express our gratitude," the woman in the dress continued "The data he provided on enemy l'Cie was – invaluable. And speaking of gratitude…" She pulled something out her gold belt, or a hidden pocket on it, and threw it down in front of Sazh. I would have watched what was happening but I refused to look away from the woman "We enhanced the surveillance footage from the energy plant. Those are the Pulse l'Cie behind what happened," I glanced down at that and saw Vanille and a dark haired woman. So I was right, vanille wasn't from Cocoon "The picture's a little grainy, but I'm sure you recognize that one. You spent so much time together."

"Vanille…" Sazh said weakly. Vanille was sniffling and I wanted to give her a hug.

"Yes. That young lady's terrorist assault at Euride Gorge is the reason Dajh was made a l'Cie," The woman liked to talk, didn't she? "Ironic isn't it? The very girl you're protecting, is the one who stole your son," Vanille started to sob.

"No!" Vanille yelped before running off in tears. Two soldiers turned after her and the woman commanded them to stop.

"Shall we finish the job? Or would you prefer to?" The woman asked Sazh. Sazh stood for a moment, then ran off after Vanille. I was truly scared for Vanille, people become something completely different when fighting for family. Or to avenge family.

"Colonel Nabaat?" the soldier to Nabaat's right asked "What now?"

"Follow them, and observe," Nabaat said as she took off her glasses "How often do l'Cie kill their own?"

"What about her?" one soldier asked, pointing to me.

"I will deal with her," Nabaat replied to the soldier.

The soldiers started walking after Sazh and Vanille, leaving me and Nabaat alone with the broken robot and Dajh. Nabaat watched the soldiers leave over her shoulder, once they were pretty far away she looked back at me and took off her glasses.

"I am Colonel Jihl Nabaat, Commander of PSICOM. But if you wish, you can refer to me by the name given to me by your people," Jihl's soft green eyes changing into a bright glowing red and one lock of her blond hair changed into silver "Jenova."

**Well who didn't see that one coming? I'm not sure if was subtle at all or stupidly obvious. To be honest, if it weren't for that particular plot device, I would have skipped this part all together. **

**Just FYI, I am planning on making each chapter longer so there won't be a ridiculous amount of chapters when this story is finished. Unfortunately, this means each chapter may take a bit longer to appear. Then again, very soon, the entire group will be united so it should make things a tad easier. Hopefully.**

**Let me know if there is something I need to fix and please leave a Review. If you don't I'll tell Mother, and you don't want to anger Mother now do you? **


	23. Chapter 23

**I know its been a while since the last update but I had some bad writers block, as I explained in my newest story, Dawn of Darkness. To those of you that are also reading/following Daughter of an Angel, there is an update on its way for that story.**

**I know I said I was going to make the chapters longer but I couldn't bolster the length of this chapter without it becoming boring. And if there is one thing I won't post, it's a boring chapter. Well, enjoy the chapter.**

_There she is. The _Palamecia_, pride of the Sanctum Skyfleet! This mighty flagship currently serves as a prison for the l'Cie apprehended in Nautilus. The l'Cie will face official sentencing upon the convoy's arrival in the capital._

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

We all stood in the hangar of the Lindblum, the Cavalry's flagship, and watched the news report. The image on the screen was an aerial view of the Palamecia beside a female reporter. Cid Raines, the commander of the Cavalry, and his second in command, Rygdea, were between us and the beam the monitor was mounted on.

"So what's with the freak show?" Snow said in a rather aggressive tone.

"So the Primarch can stand in judgment of the villainous l'Cie with their execution as the climax," Raines explained to Snow and the rest of us by extension "The people will cheer their demise, and fal'Cie dominion will be undisputed."

"All part of the plan," I stated. I swear I heard Sephiroth mutter the same words.

"Yes, but it also presents an opportunity," Raines said calmly. He seemed like all of this happened everyday.

_In a display of unwavering dedication to duty the Primarch himself has boarded the _Palamecia _and focused his personal attention on resolving the Pulse crisis._ The female reporter continued.

"They're baiting us. Trying to draw us out," Fang told us.

"Bait, huh?" Snow asked.

"What was your first clue?" Genesis said in a rather rude tone. I just ignored him and turned to the others.

"Yeah, that's right: 'Here are your friends. Come and get 'em.'" I replied, mainly to Fang.

"Well, if they're daring us to mount a rescue I'll take that action. All in," Snow slammed his fists together as he spoke with a somber tone.

"All righty, bets are on the table. We leave when you're ready. I'll be standing by," Rygdea said to us before running down the walkway to a ship.

Raines turned to face us all and calmly looked over each of us. I will admit that Raines was quite attractive but the way he stood and spoke made it seem like he did not take any this seriously. It also made him seem arrogant.

"So who exactly are you four?" Raines said to Sephiroth and his friends. Fang, Snow, Hope and I turned to them as well "I asked Zack, but he said it would be explained later."

I saw Angeal send a look over to Zack which clearly said 'Thanks for nothing' written on it. Sephiroth and Genesis glanced at each other but their looks were unreadable. Clearly they were trained to not let any sort of glance or expression betray them. After a moment they both looked back at Raines who was slowly developing an agitated expression, as was I. How were they going to dodge the question this time?

"We are a small elite faction of the military. Our purpose was either Black Ops or missions far to dangerous for _regular_ forces," Genesis said calmly. I nearly laughed out loud at his statement, how could something so preposterous be true? "Our existence was top secret and our deaths were faked before we joined the program," Well I suppose it could be true.

"Sephiroth has the rank pin for a five star General. How can that be secret?" I said in a tone far to similar to Genesis' I'm-better-than-you tone for my liking.

"He was the exception. He was both General of the military and commander of our unit, which is the rank given to the greatest fighter among us," Genesis' calm tone and expression bothered me. I wasn't the best at reading people but I had a talent for seeing when people were lying but Genesis was unreadable.

"Really?" Raines said in a skeptical tone "I'm sure I would have at least heard of him," Raines turned his gaze over to Sephiroth as he spoke.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

I was glad Genesis stepped up to cover for us. His story was solid but Lightning seemed determined to punch through it. Either she knew he was lying or Genesis had made another enemy, which was very rare. Genesis was usually the most… 'Liked' by women out of Angeal, him, and myself.

However, something seemed quite off about Genesis. He never was the most friendly person, to me at least, but he was being downright aggressive towards everyone.

"Really?" Raines said skeptically "I'm sure I would have at least heard of him," I knew instantly I had to think of something good to cover us for just a bit longer. I just had to say something believable to make them stop asking us.

I glanced over at Lightning, she was leaning on her right leg, had her arms crossed under her bust, and her ice blue eyes on me. For the first time since our meeting, we made eye contact and I was able to fully analyze her face. She was more than vaguely similar to Cloud, if I didn't know better, they could have been related. A part of me wanted to take the Masamune and push the blade through her gut, just as I did to Cloud in Nibelheim… Before he threw me into the lifestream.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts and forced myself to remain in the current situation. I realized then that Lightning and Raines were waiting for a response from me. What could I say to shield the truth?

"Genesis never said we are from Cocoon," I spoke before I even thought about what to say. I found it to be a satisfactory answer, before realizing they would think I meant we are from Pulse, like Fang.

Why did I say that? I have never given a barely thought out, or even half-thought out answer before in my life. I have always been able to calmly and carefully plan out each and every word to maximize my influence on people and minimize any chance of having my words used against me. What is causing me to falter? Could it simply be that since Lightning resembles Cloud my anger is making me lose focus? No, even when dealing with Cloud I was able to plan my words and act with a level head. What is happening to me? _Why do you assume it has something to do with hatred or anger towards someone who resembles another? _What else could it be? _What else could cause someone to lose their train of thought, say something without thinking, or stutter? _I don't know. Fear? Being nervous? _You're an idiot. _Wonderful, my subconscious knows what is troubling me and won't tell me. That can't be normal.

"So you're from Gran Pulse?" Fang asked us, although it was obviously aimed at me "How did you get on Cocoon?"

"No idea," Zack replied "Just woke up here," I knew that Genesis, Angeal and Zack wanted them to stop asking questions just as much as me.

"Shouldn't we be discussing how to save Sazh, Vanille, and Aerith?" Angeal pointed out.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

"Right. Rescuing them is our top priority," Snow agreed with Angeal "We've got to play it smart this time – no charging in without a plan," I almost can't believe what I just heard but Snow just chuckles "Heh, listen to me talking strategy!"

"Come on!" Fang almost shouted impatiently "Let's get this show on the road! I finally found Vanille again and I'll be damned if I'm just gonna stand around while she's in trouble!" Fang's words made me miss Serah even more, if that was possible.

"Then let's get going!" Zack shouted cheerfully.

We all walked down to where Rygdea had run off. He was standing in front of a PSICOM ship, similar to the one we had taken in the Bresha ruins. That was one hell of a ride, hopefully this time we have better luck with the landing.

"This baby back here's a PSICOM vessel," Rygdea sounded quite proud of himself "It'll deliver you to the Palamecia."

"Oh, we're cargo now?" Genesis said rudely. Rygdea clearly ignored him.

"A parting gift to our rotting government. Take those PSICOM guys apart."

"And we're supposed to take on all of them?" I snapped back "I think the whole division's on board."

"I don't care how many lackeys they've got," Fang stated "Bring em on! Vanille's in there."

"I'm sure she's fine," Hope said optimistically, to comfort Fang, I presume "Vanille's tougher than I could ever be."

"Hope," I say as I turn towards him.

"Are you scared?" Sephiroth asks, taking the words right out of my mouth.

"Yeah," Hope replies "I'm terrified. But I'll be okay," Hope looked up at me "Because I have you, and this guy," Hope glances over at Snow "And Fang. Not to mention these guys," Hope points over his shoulder with his thumb. I see Genesis roll his eyes and shake his head which is the first time I notice his earring. "We're all in this mess. We've got to stick together," I could almost see Hope growing up.

"Right, enough with the bonding," Rygdea said with a chuckle "It's go time."

"What do you mean 'this guy'?" I hear Snow ask Hope with a joking tone. I'm glad that Hope and Snow have made peace, though I doubt Snow and I ever will.

The ride on the ship to the Palamecia was entirely uneventful. Other than us wordlessly fighting over personal space, nothing happened. When we got out of the stolen PSICOM ship and walked part way up the docking ramp, an alarm went off.

"Code Red! Repeat: Code Red!" a voice on the intercom announced "Attention all crew: this is not a drill! Code Red!"

"So much for stealth," Sephiroth said flatly as three PSICOM soldiers ran down the ramp towards us. Two had batons while the third had an assault rifle.

"All right. Lets tear 'em up!" Snow said enthusiastically.

"We're here for Aerith, Sazh and Vanille. Stay focused!" I shouted to the others.

Before either us or the three PSICOM soldiers can move, the soldier with the gun bursts into flame and starts to howl in panic. The soldier to his left turns at the noise so I take the chance, pull out Blaze Edge, keep it in gun-mode, and place a shot into his thigh. The flames on the gun wielding soldier went out and he started to realign his aim.

Sephiroth and Genesis charge past me towards the soldiers. Genesis engages the baton wielding soldier with his red and black sword, and Sephiroth slammed his long bladed sword right into the gun wielding soldier's eye. I hear a muffled thunk as the silver blade hit the back of the helmet. Sephiroth swiftly grabbed the gun out of the dead soldier's hands and fired the entire clip into the back of the baton soldier.

All three soldiers dead under a minute. I admit to grossly underestimating Genesis. What he said about them being part of an elite group must be true.

"Listen up," Sephiroth commanded as he pulled his sword free "Genesis, Lightning, Snow, and Angeal. You three are with me. Zack, Hope, Fang. You three are going to find and rescue Vanille Sazh and Aerith."

"What're we doing?" Snow asked Sephiroth. I knew what he was going say.

"Us five are going straight up the middle. We are going to pull as much attention as possible off of them," Sephiroth motioned to Fang, Hope and Zack.

"He may not look it," I heard Angeal say "But Zack is a fierce warrior and has a very good sense of direction," I assumed Angeal was talking to Fang.

"We have company," Genesis said calmly as three more PSICOM soldiers came running down the ramp.

"After these guys are dealt with," Sephiroth said as he turned towards the soldiers "You three are going to climb up the support on the right side of the door."

I switched Blaze Edge into sword mode and charged towards the soldiers alongside Sephiroth and Genesis. After this, we were not going to get any rest for a while.

**I think I'm losing my touch with the action/fight scenes. I promise they will get better. I can assure you all that the next chapter should not take as long to appear. Also, there is a thing or two that I will explain later on.**

**Please leave a review, I will respond to it as soon as I can.**

**If there is someone who has artistic talent reading this, I would be forever grateful if you created a cover image for this story.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Longest chapter I have ever written.**

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

My eyes shot open and I sat up quickly. I looked down and saw that I was on a bed, one quite similar to the one I had in the Shinra building. The room was made of steel, just like the Shinra cell, and my braid had come undone. As I reached up to begin redoing my braid I realize I have no idea how I got here.

"Okay, what happened in Nautilus?" I whisper to myself.

* * *

"I am Colonel Jihl Nabaat, Commander of PSICOM. But if you wish, you can refer to me by the name given to me by your people," Jihl's soft green eyes changing into a bright glowing red and one lock of her blond hair changed into silver "Jenova."

Before I even knew what I was doing, my l'Cie started to burn and the perfectly round diamond appeared in my hand. I threw it against the ground, making a bright flash and Valkyrie was suddenly between me and Jenova. Valkyrie lunged forward and started to send all types of non-element spells at Jenova. I'm not sure how I knew Valkyrie's spells were non-element.

Jenova easily dodged all of Valkyrie's attacks. As six of a spell called Ruin flew at Jenova's chest, she leaned back really far, I could almost imagine that being in slow motion and each Ruin missing by less than an inch. Jenova planted her right hand on the ground and cartwheeled back onto her feet. I started to charge spells in both of my hands.

When I joined Valkyrie in hurling spell after spell at Jenova, nothing changed. Jenova was still ducking, spinning, and cartwheeling to avoid the spells. I thought it looked kind of funny for two reasons. One, Jenova was wearing heels, two, she looked like she was dancing and having fun. When she started laughing, I knew she was just playing with me. That made me mad. I charged up a strong thunder spell and threw it at the same time Valkyrie sent a strong Ruin. A surprised yelp told me that she had been hit but then I realized, she had been hit.

Next thing I knew, Jenova was right in front of me with a very scary glare on her face.

"Seems I underestimated you, Cetra," Jenova said in a creepily calm voice "But that won't happen again."

I looked over Jenova's shoulder and saw Valkyrie charging that white orb spell she used on me, Vanille and Sazh. Jenova spun around and launched a ball of black fire at Valkyrie, which slammed into the Eidolon and knocked it down. The black fire spread over Valkyrie and she looked like she was struggling to get back on her feet. Jenova turned back to me, a cruel smile this time.

Without even thinking I brought my right arm back and swung, just as Tifa taught me. I felt my fist hit Jenova right in the temple and saw her head sharply turn to her right, her glasses fell off and broke on the ground. She quickly looked back at me with an irritated look and I followed my punch with a Aero spell, strong enough to push her off her feet. As Valkyrie was climbing to her feet I commanded her to go into her Eagle form.

When Valkyrie transformed into an Eagle, she flew over to me and I jumped onto her back. We flew up high and I told Valkyrie to use her strongest attack. Valkyrie started to charge the attack and I saw Jenova disappear off the ground. I looked up and there she was, flying in front of us.

Jenova was wearing the same green, white and gold dress but she had changed. Her hair was now straight and entirely silver, her skin was a really pale gray, her fingernails were more like claws and looked to be painted black, her lips were black like she was wearing lipstick, and she had six very large black feathered wings. Her face was frighteningly similar to Sephiroth's. Two crystal swords suddenly appeared in her hands. The one in her left hand was very long, white and looked just like Sephiroth's sword. The other sword was red crystal, had a wing like design for a hand guard, and I'm pretty sure I've seen that design somewhere.

Jenova lunged at me but Valkyrie leaned back and took the hit. We fell and Valkyrie vanished before I hit the ground. Hard. I landed on my right arm and I was pretty sure it was broken. Jenova softly landed in front of me and pointed the red crystal sword at me.

"You are lucky I have a use for you," she said in a disappointed tone.

"Use?" I asked.

"I will tell you later," something like smoke surrounded Jenova and when it cleared, she was Jihl again. Peachy skin, nails, heeled shoes, green eyes, styled blond hair, everything except her glasses. She held her hand in the air and a pair of glasses appeared out of the same smoke like stuff.

* * *

That's all I could remember. I must have passed out or she made me fall asleep after. Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Where are Vanille and Sazh? What happened to them? I hope they're okay.

The door to my room opened with a hiss and two soldiers walked in. I knew they wanted me to walk with them, so I went without a fight. They guided me down many hallways and around a lot of corners. I would not be able to find my way around on my own in here. We stopped in front of a door with something written on it, I had no idea what it said. One the soldiers opened the door and shoved me inside.

It was an office, with comfy looking chairs, a full bookshelf, a large wooden desk with Jenova, or Jihl at the moment, seated behind it. The desk had a lot of papers, pens, and folders, all neatly organized. Everything was obsessively entire office was spotless and would feel safe if I wasn't less than ten feet away from the woman, or being, that wiped out the Cetra civilization by herself.

"Hello again, Cetra," she said in her creepy calm tone "How did you sleep?"

"Why am I here?" I asked in the most serious tone I could use. Jenova chuckled.

"Don't try to appear tough when I know how feeble you are," Jenova said with a smirk "You have probably realized that I am using you as bait. I am going to send you, Vanille, and Sazh to one cell. Later on, I will send a couple of soldiers to check on you three and that's when you will kill the guards and escape. You will find Sephiroth and the others, then lead them to the control center, where the Primarch will be waiting."

"Why?" I ask her, trying very hard to not sound scared.

"Why?" she repeats, seemingly surprised.

"Why do you want me to lead them to the Primarch?" I am hoping she will tell me but I'm afraid of what she might say. As I spoke Jenova stood up and walked over to me.

"For every job, there is a perfect tool. And by the way," she raised a hand to my left temple and I felt something … Wrong and cold run down my spine "If you even think of breathing a word of this to anyone, you will be dead before you draw another breath," she tilted her head slightly, like she was looking behind me and then I felt my hair braid itself "You're hair looks better in a braid. Just thought you should look your best," Jenova's sudden change of topic and friendly, almost caring, tone scared me much more than anything else about her.

The door opened with a quiet hiss so I turned towards it and the two soldiers that had brought me to Jenova's office came in then motioned towards the door. I was curious about why they suddenly entered and was about to go with them when it occurred to me. I spun to face Jenova and she just had a wicked smile on her face.

"It's exactly what you think. And you have no idea who else I have under my thumb, here on Cocoon," Jenova sounded like she was mocking me "Well? What are you waiting for? You have a purpose to fulfill. A Focus, if you will."

I heard Jenova laughing as the two soldiers lead me away. Two soldiers that were being manipulated, maybe even mind controlled by Jenova. What did she mean I had no idea who else she had 'under her thumb'? Who else could she be controlling? She could be controlling literally anyone here. Is it possible she is controlling everyone? No, I won't let myself believe anything like that. No one is that powerful.

I could faintly hear an alarm going off but paid no attention to it.

We stopped in front of a door with more symbols I couldn't read. The soldier to my right opened the door and the one to my left shoved me inside. Sazh and Vanille looked at me but I looked around the room. It looked like a storage room for random stuff that had no use, probably why the three of us were put here.

"Attention all crew: Code Green!" I heard a voice on the intercom yell "Repeat: Code Green! Security forces stand by! Hostile forces on board, Code Green!" The door to our 'cell' hissed open during the announcement and two guards with a strange robot behind them walked in.

"Get up!" one soldier yelled at us "You're being moved!" the other soldier walked over to Vanille and pulled her to her feet.

"On your feet, scum!" the first soldier looked over to his partner, ignoring me standing right in front of him.

I knew Jenova wanted me to act now, so I had no choice but to play her game. I started to charge a bolt spell in my left hand and started to think about everything Tifa taught me about throwing a punch. The soldier was covered in armor though, I wouldn't be able to even make him react but I remember something else Tifa told me. She said if my opponent is wearing armor, aim for the inside of the elbow, back of the knee, or the throat as those are the hardest places to cover with armor.

I gathered all my strength into my right arm and pulled my arm back. While the soldier was still distracted by his partner I stepped forward and threw my punch. My fist slammed into his throat and he fell backwards. I looked over the other soldier, who was now looking at me and I remembered the spell I was charging. I raised my left hand and let the bolt of lightning hit him. Vanille quickly grabbed his gun and fired all the bullets into the strange robot. Vanille dropped the gun and the three of us rushed out of the room, Sazh locking it behind us.

"Remind me to stay on your goodside," Sazh said to both me and Vanille "All right, time to split. Not _run_. There's a difference," Sazh was mostly talking to Vanille which made me assume they had their long overdue talk while I was either asleep or with Jenova.

Shortly after 'escaping' our cell, we found a room with some equipment laying around. Most of it was broken so I didn't touch anything but Sazh and Vanille were lucky enough to find their weapons. As we were leaving Vanille stopped and turned to Sazh.

"Do I deserve to escape?" Vanille sounded really sad so I put my hand on her shoulder. She reminded me of myself, before Zack fell through the roof of the church. Small, vulnerable, and needing protection from the big nasty world.

"What, you'd rather die?" Sazh asked Vanille "'Cause that's got to scare you. Scares me," I wanted to tell them that death is not something to be afraid of, it's how you die that should scare you, but that would bring up a lot of questions I wouldn't be able to answer "Scares me so much, I think I might die of fright. So, I push myself to live even harder. I can imagine Dajh, laughing at me talking this nonsense," Sazh ran his fingers through his afro "Right now, I'd anything to see that smile," I stepped up to Sazh and wrapped my arms around him, I knew I surprised him.

"You will see Dajh again. I know it, just have to stay positive," I said to the older man. I let go of him after a moment and started walking in the only direction we could go.

"Do know where you're going?" Sah asked me, his voice a bit more cheerful than a minute before.

"Nope," I said over my shoulder with a smile. How are we supposed to find the others? Maybe Jenova will help us out with that, like that will ever happen. So I took it upon myself to lead us out of here.

After fighting through a huge amount of of weird looking machines, one type had metal clamps and a siren, the other kind was able to use a dangerous level of electricity. Against me, Sazh, and Vanille, they never really stood a chance. As we were fighting the weird looking robots, I felt my magic power growing stronger, which made me happy. But we came to a very large door.

"Code Purple! I repeat: Code Purple!" the intercom voice yelled, they sounded scared "Security breach! All units on alert! Code Purple!"

"Looks like we ain't the only ones cleaning house," Sazh said to us "It could be l'Cie," I wish I could have told them I already knew the others were hear but if I did that, Jenova would kill me and most likely Vanille and Sazh shortly after.

"Could be Fang," Who is Fang? I'm sure I'll find out soon … ish "Come on," Vanille said urgently to us "Let's hurry," Sazh held up his hand with his first finger raised.

"Let's go get rescued," he said to us.

"No," I turned to Vanille and I knew I gave her a curious look "Not this time. For once in my life, _I _am going to save _her_," Sazh gave a proud chuckle.

"All right, now you're talking!" He cheerfully said to Vanille.

"Let's go!" I said with a smile and hit a button on the wall. I had no idea what it would do and let out a relieved sigh when the door opened.

**Elsewhere...**

~~~~Fang's POV~~~~

"Code Purple! I repeat: Code Purple!" the voice on the speaker shouted "Security breach! All units on alert! Code Purple!"

"All these colors. What's it mean?" the Kid asked no one.

"Means we're doing our job. Making a lot of PSICOM guys nervous," I couldn't help but smile wickedly. A muffled explosion and a slight rumble made my hands fly to my spear and bring it into a ready stance.

"What was that?" Kid asked no one again.

"Angeal, Light, and the others," Zack said with a wave of his hand "Now then..." Zack grabbed his sword off his back "Don't worry Aerith! You're hero is on his way!" With that, Zack took off at a full sprint.

"He's a lot like Snow," Kid pondered "Wouldn't you say so?" I knew he was looking at me but I didn't look back at him.

Now that he mentions it, there are some similarities between Zack and Snow. They both call themselves heroes, both rush headfirst into trouble (kind of like me) but to my knowledge Zack plans first, both are big, loud, and are always smiling like an idiot. I really think Snow is all brawn no brains and Zack clearly isn't. He does have brawn, no doubt about that, but his eyes say he is quite smart. I have noticed what Zack's biggest problem is though, he has a very short attention span. Smart with a short attention span … Just like a wolf pup.

As me and the kid start to follow Zack, I start to think about the others. That Angeal, he's very big, as in muscular, and could be quite the lady killer if he tried … That's really all I know about him. Genesis, on the other hand, is just an arse. For the short time we were traveled together, I figured out he looks down at everyone else and judging by what he wears, I'm putting my money on him being gay. I mean, come on, heeled boots and earrings? The way he talks doesn't help his case much. Then there is Sephiroth. That is one gorgeous man but I can't help but compare him to little miss Sunshine. They are opposite in appearance, Sunshine is colorful while Sephiroth is black and white. Sunshine and Sephiroth are very similar in terms of personality, cold, calculating, no nonsense, don't talk much, and they both have a quick temper. The other odd things about them are their hair (Pink and silver? Come on), they are both natural leaders and yet lone wolves at the same time, and finally I have seen each one freeze when they realize the other is looking at them.

Whatever. All I'm certain of is this one thing. I want Pretty Boy for myself and if Sunshine wants him, she's gonna have to go through me.

"Fang?" Kid said to get my attention.

"Hmm?"

"You a … a very … strange look," clearly Kid didn't know what to say but I knew that I had my trademark mischievous smile when I was thinking.

"I was just thinking," I answered coolly, neither to swiftly or with too much hesitation.

"Hey!" Zack shouted back at us, I saw him standing on top of two broken PSICOM robots "Hurry up or I'm going to rescue Vanille and tell her how lazy you were being!"

Oh, right! Vanille! Damn my thoughts for distracting me! Don't worry Vanille. You're still the most important person to me.

After several twist and turns and far too many hallways, we found our way outside the ship. There wasn't any less PSICOM robots but there is a very strong wind. I guess being on the outside of a giant airship will make you feel some wind. Wait, is the wind getting weaker? Hmm... The ship must be slowing down.

"Well that's odd," Pup mused.

"What?" Kid asked.

"The ship is slowing down. Almost like they know we're out here and want us to continue. Either that or we're very lucky."

"Does it matter?" I said to Pup "As long as I can rescue Vanille, I don't care who is helping."

We fought our way through, no less than, a legion of PSICOM robots. I caught myself laughing at how they thought they could me from rescuing Vanille. They should know better than to get between a Yun and her family. Something like a robotic Wyvern caught my eye as it flew by us. It circled back and started right towards us.

"So, Puppy... How you figure this makes us lucky?" I said to Pup

"Did you really just call me Puppy?" Zack said to me, with a very high amount of disbelief.

"I don't think that's important right now!" Kid shouted as the robot Wyvern swooped down at us.

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

Somehow, me Vanille and Sazh had found our way into the engine room. I knew that because a voice on the intercom asked why the engines were losing power. I also knew that if we stayed here too long, there would be a lot of soldiers pouring in here before long.

There was a large amount of robots obviously just meant to keep intruders like us out of the engine room. We only fought the groups in our way and completely avoided the others. We were only wounded a couple of times, nothing Vanille and me couldn't take care of. Our fights though, took way longer than they would have if the others had been with us but we did get through the engine room pretty quick.

As we were 'splitting' from the engine room, we ran down random hallways until I heard something strange.

"Stop right there, Cetra," Jenova said to me "That wall to your left, go through it," I did not want to listen to Jenova but what choice did I have?

"Hey!" I shouted to Sazh and Vanille who had gained a big lead on me "I have a hunch!" Sazh and Vanille stopped, looked at each other then me, and started a jog back over to me.

I charged a fire spell in each hand and waited as long as I could, charging the spells as much as possible. I took a few, actually a lot, of steps back from the wall and threw the spells at it. One quick explosion later, the hallway filled with smoke, making the three of us cough wildly, and we charged through the hole in the wall. I was completely stunned by what met my eyes.

"Zack!" I shouted way louder than I meant to.

"Aerith!" he shouted back. I heard Vanille and a woman shout something but was to focused on Zack to understand what they said.

We ran to each other and I wrapped my arms around his middle as his arms flew around my waist. He lifted me up and spun us around a couple of times. I felt a tear run down my cheek as he put me down. I leaned my head against his chest and felt more tears run down my cheeks for a couple of reasons. First, I am just so happy to see him again after all this time, we did technically see each other in the lifestream but it's very different. Second, we both could be killed before today ends and I can't even tell him.

"Miss me?" I heard Sazh say.

"Uh, guys?" Hope said to get our attention "There's another one!"

"What?" Zack shouted. We pulled away from each other and got ready for a fight. Zack drew his sword and I charged a fire and ice spell.

A big flying robot flew down at us and another fight began. If it had been a living creature, I would feel sorry for it because with the six of us fighting it, it didn't stand a chance. After it was destroyed, the woman in blue, with a red spear, ran over to Vanille and lifted the side of her skirt. I heard Sazh, Hope, and Zack give a nervous chuckle and I saw them turn away as I turned away.

"You've still got time," the woman in blue said, sounded very relieved. I'm pretty sure that woman is the Fang Vanille talked about before.

"Fang..." Vanille said, letting me know that the woman in blue is in fact, Fang "There's – there's something I need to tell you."

Fang stood up and pulled Vanille into a hug and muttered something. I felt Zack pull me into another hug and I let him.

"I'm so glad your safe," he whispered to me.

"You didn't keep your promise," I whispered back, giggling slightly "You said you would visit me when you got back to Midgar. But you never did," I heard Zack chuckle lightly.

"I got held up," Zack whispered back to me.

"Aren't there a couple people missing?" Sazh asked. I looked around and noticed that Lightning, Snow and Sephiroth weren't here.

"They are pulling all the attention off of us. So we had better hurry to them and help them," Zack told us.

"We're gonna need a miracle to reach them now," Hope said in a rather depressed tone.

A loud bestial growl caught our attention. We all looked up and saw a huge flying metal creature fly overhead. It looked just like the creature we fought at the start of our journey.

"Check this out. A miracle – Gran Pulse style!" Fang shouted to us as the big creature circled back "Vanille, go fish!" Fang commanded as the creature flew just above us.

I'm not what happened next, like I blinked and missed it. But next I know, the big creature is on the ground, Fang standing on its back and Vanille telling us to go get on it. I knew Sazh and Hope were just as unsure as I was as it seems like every time I get on something that can fly, something awful happens. And sure enough, something awful happened.

We flew the creature to the front of the absolutely massive airship, I had no idea how big it was, and a nightmarish amount of guns started to shoot at us. The creature used its breath attack to blast a hole in the top of the ship and had to circle back to it. As we flew over it I heard something that scared me.

"Jump!" Fang shouted.

I really didn't want to but Zack grabbed me and jumped off. Sazh and Vanille screamed the whole way down. I'm pretty sure I did too. Zack was laughing like a maniac. When we landed, I opened my eyes and saw we were in an area with a series of ramps and platforms. Zack put me down and drew his sword. The door behind us hissed and we turned around ready for a fight. But on the other side of the door was Lightning, Sephiroth, Snow, and two other people, two men that had been just as famous as Sephiroth. Angeal and Genesis, Zack's mentor as he told me, and Sephiroth's rival.

"How in the?" Snow began, he was very confused. Zack pointed upwards.

"We took a shortcut," Zack kind of explained.

"Well that's one way to do it," Angeal commented while looking at the hole. Lightning walked past us and looked down the path of ramps.

"Dysley's through there," She meant the door at the bottom.

"What's the plan?" Zack asked no one.

"Topple the Sanctum," Snow said proudly.

"No, really," Sazh said.

"He's serious," Sephiroth said flatly to us.

"We're gonna take down the Sanctum and give Cocoon back to the people. The fal'Cie have called the shots for long enough," Lightning said to the rest of us.

"Yes, the fal'Cie have been calling the shots," Jenova laughed in my mind.

"Well let's get going!" Snow announced "We have a Primarch to purge!"

**Anyone the Matrix reference? It's pretty obvious. But that's besides the point. I feel like part of this chapter isn't at the same level as my other work. Feel like some of this chapter is quite sub-par. **

**Please leave a review and let me know if there is something I have to edit.**


	25. Chapter 25

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

This is it. The one thing we had been fighting towards is now right in front of us. Very soon, Cocoon will be in the hands of the people just as it should be. Nothing will stop us from completing this mission. It's both astounding and relieving to know that very soon, this will be over. We won't complete our focus but we will be doing more for Cocoon than anyone ever has before.

We all walked down the ramps in silence, all mentally preparing for our final battle I guess. I glanced to my sides and noticed Sephiroth on my left and his bangs were blocking his face from where I was. Fang was on my right and she had an amused smirk on her face, I am curious as to what she finds amusing but whatever it is, she had better get focused on our coming battle. We all stopped just in front of the door to the control center of the Palamecia.

I turned and looked at everyone, making eye contact. Everyone had the same fire in their eyes, fire born from the simple fact of knowing who was on the other side of this door. Only the Primarch's guard was in our way now, although judging by how many bodies littered the corridors behind us, there couldn't possibly be that many troops in the control center.

"Ready?" I asked no one specifically.

"_My friend, the fates are cruel. There are no dreams, no honor remains. The arrow has left the bow of the goddess_," Genesis said to the room. Why did he say that? It is rather fitting though.

"Let's finish this," Sephiroth said with no emotion.

I turned back to the door, hit the button to open it, and within moments of the door opening we all had our weapons in hand and were charging in. First thing I noticed was both PSICOM commanders standing and waiting for us. The next thing that caught my attention was the Primarch sitting on a, for lack of a better word, throne that was fairly high off the deck. Something raced forward in my mind, as it most likely did for everyone else. How is Yaag Rosch here? I know I saw him lying on the ground in Palumpolum, he had been gunned down with the rest of the squad that had been with him. Oh well, all I can do now is make sure he is dead this time.

"Been looking for you Nabaat!" I heard Sazh shout. I swear I saw an arrogant smile appear on Jihl's face.

Jihl drew, and extended her long baton weapon and Yaag drew his rapier. We were all about to fight when Dysley spoke.

"Humans have no business here," he said calmly before lifting his staff and rising off his throne, into the air.

Several spells appeared around the head of his staff as he ascended. He swept his staff through the air and the spells flew off, towards the crew around the room, killing them all. Three spells flew down towards us and I watched them without meaning to. The three spells hit Zack, Angeal, and Genesis, none of which died, as far as I know, but they were all launched backwards. Sephiroth spun around at the sound of them getting hit.

"Magic?" Sazh shouted, panicked. I was pretty freaked out too.

"Focus on them!" Angeal shouted. I glanced over and saw him on his knees with one hand over his heart "We're fine!"

"Dysley!" Snow shouted in anger.

Primarch Dysley sent several more spells at the roof. When the spells impacted, the spots glowed brightly before the entire roof began to glow. After glowing for a moment, the roof disolved, allowing a view of the sky and the side of Cocoon opposite of us.

"Monster! People are not yours to use!" Snow growled. I wanted to join the ranting but my lips were sealed shut by some emotion I hadn't quite figured out.

"What else does one do with tools?" Dysley said calmly as he descended and landed silently on the floor in front of us. Snow charged forward to attack Dysley but both Jihl and Yaag poined their weapons at him "Cocoon is a factory, run by fal'Cie."

"A factory for the mass production of human thralls," Jihl continued for Dysley. Her calm tone sent chills down my spine, I'm unsure why though.

"Not anymore, it's not!" Snow shouted.

"What can mere men do?" Yaaq asked, he sounded almost depressed. Now that I'm closer to him, Yaaq looks like a more militarized version of Sephiroth.

"Without our help, death is all of which you're capable. You saw the fools. A mindless mob drunk on fear of a few l'Cie," All I want right now, is to drive my sword straight through his heart. But I'm going to have to get rid of his two lackeys first.

"If only they knew the truth," Jihl said with a slight chuckle.

"If they only knew a l'Cie was the one filling their glasses!" I growled at Dysley as I lifted Blaze Edge up just below my eye level, extended over my left arm. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sephiroth in a near mirror image of my stance.

"L'Cie?" Dysley chuckled after responding "You mean me?" Dysley asked with a laugh "Oh child, perish the thought. I am more than that!" Dysley shouted and half growled the last part.

He glowed blindingly bright and when the light vanished… I'm not even sure how to begin describing what was there after but Jihl and Yaag still stood facing us, weapons at the ready.

"I am fal'Cie," the huge thing said "My name is Barthandelus. Voice of the Sanctum, and Lord-Sovereign of the Cocoon fal'Cie," as the thing spoke I felt my eyes widen, my jaw drop slightly and my hands fall to my sides, I'm certain everyone else felt the same "Your kind feared the darkness, so we gave you light. You begged us for the Purge, and did it not come to pass? Now you spurn our counsel? You must learn your place!"

"Think what you want, monster," Sephiroth said, his tone was somewhere between amused and furious "But in death, all are equal."

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

I was stunned. I had been since we all stopped running at the center of the room. Jenova is right there in front of us and only one person in the group knows how to fight her merely because he is her son. But he's not reacting to her! Why isn't he doing anything! You would think that the son of Jenova would be able to know exactly where she is at all times if a half Cetra like me can sort of do it! Why isn't Sephiroth attacking her! Or-or running away from her! Or… Something! It almost like he can't… That's it. It all makes sense now.

When we were sent here by the lifestream, I was told Sephiroth was cut off from his power. Sephiroth was cut off from Jenova. All his power came from her and that's how he could sense her or control her cells. That's how he was able to control Cloud. But now, he can't sense Jenova and she is right in front of him.

It's so obvious, it was intended for us to join this group of people and Sephiroth has to save Cocoon from Jenova. And if Sephiroth was still connected to Jenova, she would have taken control of him and used for… Something terrible, I'm sure.

"-rith!" Hope yelling snapped me out of my thoughts and I felt something slam into my side and shove me aside just before a fire spell hit me in the face.

I was able to stop myself from falling and saw that it was Hope that just shoved me out of the way of a spell. I nodded and smiled at him to let him know I was okay and looked around for Zack. I saw him, Angeal, and Genesis against the back wall. I started towards them and Zack spotted me.

"No! Help them! We're fine! Help them!" Zack sounded badly injured and I wanted to heal them but I had to help fight Jenova and that huge thing that... Wait! Where did that huge metal thing come from?

I got an idea of how I could do both. I closed my eyes and focused on summoning Valkyrie. I felt my l'Cie brand burn and the white orb appeared in my hand. I threw it against the ground and watched the big white symbols appear and disappear and once Valkyrie was finally there I commanded her.

"Go help the others! I'll be there in a sec!" I pointed over to Lightning, Sephiroth, and the others. Valkyrie nodded before flying over and joining in the fight by spell casting.

I rushed over to Zack and the other two, fell to my knees, and started to charge a couple of healing spells. It didn't take long for the pure, warm, and rejuvenating feeling of the healing spells to build up in my arms. Healing spells had always been my specialty. As I was leaning over to heal Zack, he grabbed my my hand and looked me in the eye.

"Help Angeal first… He can help you heal us," Zack's voice was so strained, I felt bad for listening to him and leaning the other way to heal Angeal.

"Odin!"

"Zalera!"

"Brynhildr!"

"Shiva!"

I heard Lightning, Sephiroth, Sazh, and Snow shout. I looked over my shoulder and instantly knew which Summon – er – Eidolon belonged to Sephiroth. Focusing back on healing, I tried as hard as I could to make myself forget that we, actually, they are fighting Jenova.

~~~~Fang's POV~~~~

I was more than a little surprised to learn that Jihl and Rosch were l'Cie. But at the same time it was something I had been fully expecting, I hate that particular contradiction. Doesn't matter though, not the first time I've fought a Cocoon l'Cie. I remember fighting them before I become a l'Cie myself and I know I fought many more after becoming one.

Not sure as to when the battle changed but it had become Jihl and Rosch against me, Sunshine, Pretty Boy, and Muscle Head. And just a little ways to my right it was Eidolons, Kid, Vanille, and Oldy against the fal'Cie. Although the fight with Jihl and Rosch was more like me and Sunshine against Jihl and Pretty Boy and Muscle Head against Rosch.

I tried to fight Jihl head on but she was too damn fast. None of my attacks even came close to hitting her, which surprised me because it is hard to believe that a girl can be so agile in heels and a dress. What makes things worse is she never missed me and her long thin baton thing stung like a bitch, it's really more like a chocobo whip. And the damn tip of the thing is very sharp and has a tendency to cut where she whips. So I pulled back and let Sunshine have a go with her.

While Sunshine Ms. Bitch fought, I took a quick look around at the others. Pretty Boy looked to be overpowering Rosch with the help of Snow throwing spells. Vanille, Hope, Sazh and the five Eidolons were busy with fighting the Big Guy. I didn't see Aerith at all. She must be helping the other three that were hurt before the fight even began.

"Zack, Genesis, Aerith! Fight Barthandelus!" Angeal shouted. A few moments later he was beside me "Looks like you and Lightning could use some assistance," He said with a smile before an orb on his armlet glowed bright green. In an instant all my wounds from the Bitch healed.

"Thanks for that," I said to him. Knowing Angeal (I have to think of or find a name that annoys him) would be supporting us, I charged in to join Sunshine.

I charged in behind Sunshine with my lance ready. Sunshine jumped into a back flip and I ducked low to run right underneath her and she fired her gun when she was right above me. Jihl just stepped out of the way of the shots and charged at me. She forced me into a defensive stance which I didn't mind, just means I'll be hit by that baton less. Sunshine attacked from the side but Jihl was able to evade the attack which in itself was unbelievable, they both were moving incredibly fast. Lightning sure did live up to her name.

"All together!" Oldy shouted. I knew I shouldn't look away but Jihl has her hands full with Sunshine so I took the risk.

Vanille, Kid, Oldy, Genesis, and the Eidolons were charging spells. Puppy was holding the Big Guy's attention to keep the non-Eidolons breathing. All at once, the Eidolons and the others released their spells and they all slammed into the Big Guy, creating the most colorful explosion that was both very hot and freezing. When the haze cleared the Big Guy had his head laying on the floor and his hands were limp. He started to fade away like a mirage almost right away.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rosch look over at the now dead Big Guy and Sephiroth stab him. The long white blade was pushed right through Rosch's heart. Pretty Boy pulled his sword free and swiftly swung it, cutting Rosch's throat. Cutting is a little bit of an understatement. Pretty Boy damn near decapitated Rosch. After Rosch's body thudded to the floor, me and Pretty Boy turned to face Jihl. The blond had stopped fighting and had Sunshine's weapon in gun form pointed at her temple.

Jihl took one look around and let out a sigh. She tossed her baton far out of her reach and raised her hands in surrender. The Eidolons vanished as well. Odin in a rain of rose petals, Zalera in a swarm of black feathers, the Shiva sisters in a swirl of snowflakes, and Brynhildr in a flash of flame.

"A fal'Cie running the Sanctum," Muscle Head said with quite the level of disbelief.

"Then..." Kid panted "I guess it wasn't Eden controlling things after all."

"As I said," Barthandelus' voice cut through the air but I refused to take my eyes off of Jihl "I am Lord-Sovereign," He reappeared, in Dysley form, in the air and gently floated down to the ground. I knew everyone, other than me and Sunshine, had their weapons on Bart in an instant.

"Guess fal'Cie don't go down as easy as the rest of us," Oldy quipped.

"Ease is not the issue," Jihl said calmly, she creeps me out "You did not fight to win," Suddenly she just wasn't there in front of me anymore. Sunshine and I looked at each other than over to Bart and saw Jihl standing to the side and a little bit behind him "Barthandelus, you may leave," Bart just vanished after she spoke.

"What are you?" Oldy sounded terrified. I was fairly scared as well but I'll never admit that to anyone.

Jihl slowly took off her glasses and tossed them aside. She really did enjoy being dramatic didn't sh- I was more than surprised when six black-feathered wings grew out of her back.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

"_What_ am I?" 'Jihl' laughed "I am the omniscient queen and almighty architect of Cocoon. I allow you humans to live on Cocoon, I provide everything you need and want. Every fal'Cie on this hollow rock relies on me to provide their power, even Barthandelus," She is lying. Somehow I know, that she is lying. Not to mention, there is something… Frightening about her. That can't be right, I don't feel fear.

"Who are you?" Sazh growled. 'Jihl' laughed at him.

"Here, on Cocoon, you know me as Orphan. On Gran Pulse, I am known as Lindzei. I am responsible for ending the war the War of Transgression," 'Jihl started to laugh again "And causing it."

"What?" Fang and Vanille shouted. Fang had an intense amount of hatred and agony in her voice while Vanille just had agony.

"You were all getting too comfortable and I was getting bored with small scale disasters. I needed something to entertain me for a few decades. And there is very little that causes as much hatred, misery, and bloodshed than all out war between religious fanatics," 'Jihl' seemed like she was speaking of pleasant times times past, not a war.

"You started a war because you were bored?" Snow shouted with outrage. This didn't bother me at all, Shinra once started a small war to increase their profits for that year. I had lead that army "You have no right to use people like that!" 'Jihl' sent a very dark glare at Snow.

"You dare to try and tell _ME _what I am entitled to? Every being has a place in the natural order and a purpose to fulfill. The place of humans is just above vermin and below fal'Cie. Your purpose is to serve the fal'Cie and me until you draw your final breath. The reason I even allow your pitiful species to exist is because you are amusing. Other than that, there is nothing humans can accomplish without the aid of a much more powerful being, such as me," 'Jihl' extended an arm towards Yaag's body which promptly faded away, even the puddle of blood. 'Jihl' extended both her arms out to her sides and two crystal swords formed, they were both made of dark, nearly opaque, crystal and had no design I recognized "L'Cie are a prime example of such weakness," 'Jihl raised one sword and pointed it at us "And if you even think you can defeat me, you have already chosen death. This is my world and there is zero chance of it becoming anything else."

The ship suddenly shook violently as if something huge had run into it, or a large explosion had just occurred. Without warning, an explosion sounded below us and the floor started to sink. I heard a sound similar to to the sound of a gravity spell being used and the floor was ripped out from under us, a secondary effect of the spell was we were all immediately falling at terminal velocity. Several other explosions erupted from the giant airship and a ship nearly identical to the one that we flew over to the Palamecia, this ship had a gold color with silver detail, came flying out of the smoke.

It raced past us then slowed down greatly. The door on the rear end of the ship opened for us and a few of us exchanged a look. Knowing that our only alternatives were to either fall to our deaths or call upon our resting Eidolons, we chose to board the strange ship. Once we were all inside, and holding onto something for dear life, the door closed and the ship pulled out of its nose dive impossibly fast at an impossible angle, making all the non-SOLDIER's lose their grip. Zack held Aerith tightly so she would be fine. We quickly got to our feet and hurried into the cabin to get into secure seats. Upon entering, we all noticed the same thing, there is no pilot. This ship is flying itself, and that would have surprised me if I had never known what is was like to have telekinetic abilities. Obviously, there is a powerful being controlling this from afar, a being that opposes 'Jihl'.

"Is this thing flying itself?" Sazh shouted, panic clearly present in his tone.

"Do you see someone driving it?" Lightning snapped at him.

We all strapped into the seats, Sazh taking the seat that the pilot would have used if there was one. An alarm went wild to notify us about an approaching enemy. I looked out the massive clear canopy and saw a very strange gray ship launch a volley of missiles at us. Our ship turned unnaturally sharply, rolled, and dove to avoid the missiles. Next thing I knew, we were behind the gray ship and our ship started to fire at it. Unfortunately, the gray ship flipped back up above us and launched more missiles. This volley was heading straight for us. What I can only describe as crystal armor appeared the instant before the missiles hit us and vanished very shortly after.

"The hell kind of ship is this? Fighting on its own?" Sazh sounded irritated.

"That's the part that bothers you?" Fang shouted.

"Can't we do something?" Hope sounded absolutely terrified.

"Got me! I give up!" Sazh shouted back.

We were flying right towards what looked to be a floating city. Something that was bright blue appeared and my instinct said it was a shield. Several large light-blue symbols appeared and the ship flew right through them. It was almost as if we were being welcomed into the city. I'm assuming the gray ship didn't get through the shield as it was no longer shooting at us. Our ship slowed to a peaceful cruising speed and we all unbuckled our selves to look around. I will admit, this is an impressive city. Far more advanced and highly populated than Midgar ever was, or could have been.

"Sazh, look out!" Vanille yelped. We all looked out the front and saw that we were heading straight for a very solid looking building.

Most of the others started to panic. I heard a strange electric sound and barely noticed the orange glow that had started to build. Just before the ship slammed into the side of the building, it went dark. The ship was quiet and nothing was on.

"What just happened?" Snow asked us all.

"I'm willing to bet that that question won't be answered in here," Zack replied to him.

We cautiously made our way out of the airship, Lightning and I at the front just in case we met some hostile resistance. Once we determined the area was clear we allowed everyone else of the ship. The airship glow slightly and faded out of existence and once they were done trading nervous glances, the others chose to spread out and check the area themselves. The area looked like a train station, so much so, I couldn't be wrong about that.

"Where are we?" Lightning asked the room.

"Looks like a piece of Pulse," Vanille mused.

"Looks like a piece of Midgar," Angeal whispered to me.

"Pulse? What, you mean like the Bodhum Vestige?" Sazh sounded confused "Something like that, this close to Eden..."

"Yeah, well, what I don't understand is, after the Purge, and all that l'Cie paranoia, why keep a chunk of Pulse under the floorboards?" Fang had an interesting point. Just interesting, didn't mean anything to me.

"I'm more interested in why we're here," Zack announced "I mean, what possible use does this place have?"

"It's a place for l'Cie to accept their fate," Lightning just barely muttered, her voice amplified by the room.

"Do you think our Focus is really to destroy Cocoon?" Hope asked us. I had no words to respond with.

"No," Aerith stated in a rather commanding tone, it was surprising to hear from Aerith and it made us all look at her "Our Focus is to destroy that _Queen _of Cocoon. By doing that we will be saving Cocoon. Just like Serah told us to do," the mention of that name made Snow smile widely.

"We've defeated two fal'Cie already. How hard of a fight can she be?" Snow sounded as if we had already beat her. I just scoffed and shook my head.

"That's the spirit!" Angeal walked to Snow and slung an arm around the blond's shoulders as he spoke "But don't get too far ahead of yourself," Everyone had a smile on their face, Genesis, Lightning and I were the exceptions, I noticed Aerith's smile was forced and was instantly curious about that "We need to find our way out here first. Any ideas?" I couldn't restrain myself any longer.

"Doesn't it bother anyone else that the vision we had was of Cocoon falling? That doesn't exactly strike as saving it," I was frustrated by them choosing ignorance but I refused to let my frustration show in my voice "It's either we destroy Cocoon and go into crystal stasis or go on a fools quest to destroy _Orphan_ and become Cie'th."

"Well Orphan did say she was the source of power for all fal'Cie on Cocoon, right?" Zack asked me, I nodded in response "We kill her, the fal'Cie go away, and we successfully destroy the world as they know it," I wanted to retort but I couldn't argue with Zack's logic.

"I doubt our Focus will be accomplished by a technicality," Lightning snapped back.

"_Legend shall speak, of sacrifice at world's end. The wind sails over the water's surface, quietly, but surely_," Genesis quoted Loveless yet again, although he has a talent for knowing exactly when a line of it fits our situation "Our predicament is a choice between the needs of the many and the needs of the few. Whatever we choose, we will still be remembered for what we did."

"So, back to square one," Sazh stated "Out of luck."

"What's the plan then?" Vanille asked the group.

"Find our way out of here. After that, we'll see," Angeal replied calmly. We all started walking towards the only clear tunnel.

"Don't worry Serah! Your Hero will save Cocoon!" I stopped walking when Snow spoke. Since I was in front of everyone else, they stopped as well.

"Snow," I found myself saying before I could stop it "Don't try so hard to be a hero. Real heroes either die young and end up being known as martyrs or live to become… Something much worse than what they had been fighting," I continued walking after speaking.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

Sephiroth's words had rooted me to the spot. Could that have been sincerity in his tone? I'm not sure about that but there was definitely wisdom and something else. There had been a hint of nostalgia when he said "Real heroes" but at the end it was as if he had been recalling some very unpleasant memories. Just who is Sephiroth?

Without knowing why, I glanced over at Fang. She gave me a look that told me she had thought everything I had. And we both wanted to know what he is hiding.

**I hope that was a good place to end this chapter. I was thinking about making this chapter much longer but I thought I would leave you all hanging. ****To be honest, I was actually thinking about ending this story with this chapter. But then I remembered how much I have planned for Gran Pulse. **

**Also, I am fully aware that Jenova made no attempt to do anything really. There is a reason for that and that will be revealed in time.**

**Please leave a review and let me know if there is anything I need to correct/edit/fix.**


	26. Chapter 26

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

For a while our trip through this place was quiet. There was nothing that could be a threat but I kept touching the handle of Blaze Edge just to make sure it was still ready to be used at a moment's notice. I have to admit though, I am starting to feel worn out especially after all that fighting on the Palamecia but we don't have time to rest. As we entered a downright massive room, with strange pod like things throughout it, Hope spoke up.

"I can't believe we're still in Cocoon."

"It's kind of creepy," Sazh commented to Hope.

"Hey, do you think we could take a break?" Zack asked "It's unlikely we'll get another chance like this to rest," he did have a point. When I turned to him it was obvious he had asked for the others. Hope, Aerith, and Vanille looked just about ready to collapse, Sazh and Snow looked to be short of breath, and the rest of us still had much more fight in us.

The floor suddenly started to shine red and my l'Cie brand started to burn fiercely. A quick look around told me everyone else felt the same thing, except for Angeal, Genesis and Zack. As quick as the shine and the burning appeared, it vanished. The two pod like things nearest to us, about ten feet away, opened and one Pulsian machine walked out of each.

"You had to say it, didn't you?" Sazh said sarcastically to Zack.

"Sorry," Zack said back with an obviously fake hurt tone.

It didn't take us too long to destroy the machines. With most of us focusing on using magic and the other few up front attacking, the machines did not even begin to have a chance. But it was easy to tell who was the most burnt out after the fight.

"Angeal, Genesis, Zack," Sephiroth said, a rather commanding tone present "We'll take point. Give the others time to recuperate. The rest of you, conserve your strength. Only use magic when its most needed and be sure to stay back far enough that any attack that misses one of us won't hit you by accident."

Together me and Fang stepped forward to join the four men up front. They turned to us and Sephiroth gave a look that I used to give to recruits, a look daring them to disobey an order. He looked me dead in the eye and out of the corner of my vision I noticed his grip on his sword tighten. I shifted my weight onto one leg and crossed my arms in an act of defiance. In case they haven't noticed, rank does not really matter anymore especially since Sephiroth is a Pulsian General. A gut feeling told me Fang was doing something very similar to what I was doing.

"You really think we're just gonna sit back and do nothing?" Fang asked them. I could hear the smirk on her face.

"I can tell both of you are nearly spent. As soon as the adrenaline wears off, you will barely be able to lift your own weapons," Angeal calmly stated, his voice friendly and full of concern "We also need someone to watch the back of the group. No telling what may come up behind us."

I wanted to object but Fang beat me to the punch.

"So you know how we're feeling better than we do now?"

"Not at all. I'm just familiar with the pattern," Angeal glanced at Zack, who let a shy smirk appear.

"Fine. Can we get moving?" I said more than asked.

"Hey, uh," Snow began to say "Any idea where we are?" I know we all looked to the four Pulsian men for an answer but it was Vanille that spoke.

"This place – it must be an Ark."

"An Ark?" I asked, with minor interest.

"That's what they called 'em," Fang replied.

"Long ago," Vanille started.

"Can't you talk while moving?" Genesis just about snapped at us. So we all started to move on, even though for the first time I wanted to hit someone other than Snow.

"Anyways, long ago," Vanille resumed "the fal'Cie who made their home on Gran Pulse were afraid of invasion from the outside. As part of their battle preparations, they created an army of living weapons. And they stored these weapons in Arks, and they hid the Arks all over the world."

"Everyone on Gran Pulse knew the legend," Fang stated as she looked around.

"So, this is basically a Pulse armory," I said to simplify things. Fang made a 'mm-hmm' noise to confirm what I said.

"Most of us never believed in 'em. A few people tried searching, but they never found a thing," Fang continued "Who'd have thought to look on Cocoon?"

"Right under our noses. That's some secret they kept," Sazh commented, referring to the Cocoon fal'Cie "Those Sanctum guys, what are they up to?" Sazh asked us.

"The story's not done," Vanille more announced than anything "There's more"

"They used to say the Arks had a more practical purpose," Fang continued. I didn't think I'd like where this story was going.

"Huh. Really," I said flatly.

"Yeah," Fang said snidely "To force l'Cie to master their shiny new powers."

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

I listened to the conversation of the others with little interest. To me, these Arks sounded like an invasion fleet or some manner of fail-safe if Gran Pulse were to start losing the war. In some ways, this world was dangerously similar to Gaia but in far more ways, it was vastly different which is a very, very good thing.

"You know what I don't understand?" Zack said loud enough to get everyone's attention and to interrupt whatever Lightning had been saying "The Queen of Cocoon. Why take control of just one military faction and not the entire government?"

"Been wonderin' that myself," Sazh commented.

"It's obvious," I calmly stated "_Orphan_ took control of PSICOM to have the most fun. PSICOM is the Sanctum's elite anti-Pulse force so they are able to do almost anything they want as long as they have something unfamiliar to point out to the Cocoon people and claim its from Pulse. If the the Primarch were to suddenly start making ridiculous demands, the people and the military would rise up against them causing a civil war that would inevitably lead to Cocoon's destruction," a few of them were staring at me blankly and I unintentionally let out an irritated breath "Not as much political red tape when it comes to an elite military faction designed for the sole purpose of eliminating an enemy no one has seen for generations."

"Seem to know quite a bit about politics," Sazh said to me, with more than a touch of suspicion.

"I was a five star General, among other things, until... an incident," Still isn't the time for them to know about me "It was officially reported as a psychological breakdown."

"He snapped under the pressure," Lightning clarified, to my annoyance. It was painfully obvious that she still did not trust me, something that should not matter to me. Oddly enough though, I felt like I needed to prove I was trustworthy even though my history more than proved rather unfortunate fates befell those who trusted me. What is causing me to fixate on that pink haired woman? I am going to continue to write it off as residual fury at Cloud Strife.

"You were a General?" Sazh nearly shouted, both surprised and ignoring what Lightning had said. For that I was glad.

"Yes. What of it?"

"You don't look nearly old enough for the trauma that comes with that job," Sazh's tone was strange. It was a mixture of pity and worry which just tugged at a nerve but as much as I wanted to be infuriated, I had to use every bit of effort not to start laughing. Oh how their tunes would change if they could even begin to imagine what I had done.

"Now is not the time to be discussing such things," Genesis stated as a squad of machines came into sight.

Zack and I charged directly at them while Genesis pounded them with magic and Angeal supported us. Angeal had always been gifted with protective magic which helped him remain in his chosen position of pacifist. Genesis, on the other hand, was dangerously skilled with magic meant to kill or maim. Dangerous to others, I mean. With my former power Genesis could best me in neither strength or magic.

After disposing of the machines, we pushed on deeper into into the Ark. The amount of battles increased tenfold and before too long, Lightning and Fang joined us up front so Angeal and Genesis could let their materia recharge and so Zack could take a break. On far more than one occasion I caught Fang giving me a look I was sort of familiar with. It was a look countless women, and some men, sent at Angeal, Genesis, and myself. I did not know what the name of the look was but I knew it was something I would never use.

A few dozen fights later and about a mile of twists and turns through the Ark we started to fight larger machines and creatures. After destroying a machine Fang and Vanille called a Centurion, it was almost an unanimous vote that we take a break. The battle had not been easy, in any sense of the word, and even though Lightning, Genesis, and myself had taken a hit or two, we wanted to keep moving more than those who we had forced to stay back out of the attack range. Everything slowly drifted into one long battle as we continued to fight our way through the Ark but I started to feel something as we continued. I felt like with every enemy I had slain, my power increased by a very small amount, it was unnoticeable at first but overtime I had realized that I was stronger now than when we had arrived in the Ark. First I was confused but clarity hit me mere moments later. I may not have my former power but I could still take in traits of others. The question now is, to what extent? I am going to have to experiment to find out as much as I can.

Vanille inexplicably giggling pulled me out of my, rather pointless, thoughts. I saw that Aerith had an amused smile and swiftly determined that they must have been making jokes at someone's expense, Vanille pointing at Zack was a great aid in determining that.

"What're you giggling about?" Fang asked Vanille with a very suspicious tone.

"Nothing..." Vanille seemed to have just noticed that now everyone was looking at her.

"Spit it out Van," Fang had a less than friendly tone but it was more playful than anything. Angeal used the same tone on Genesis and Zack, once upon a time.

"I was thinking that Zack and Angeal look like what would happen if you and Snow had kids," the red head did have a point and I actually found that funny. The sudden look of disgust and surprise on Fang's face was also fairly entertaining, Snow just look embarrassed to be put on the spot. Zack and Angeal looked at each other then back to Vanille, their confusion was quite obvious.

"Oh... Kay... Then," Zack said quite slowly. The more I thought about it the more Vanille seemed to be right.

"I can see what you mean," Angeal replied to Vanille with a smile.

"Speaking of you, Angeal," Lightning started, grabbing everyone's attention "I've only seen you fight once. I thought you were part of an elite group of fighters."

"I was. I'm really more of a pacifist," the looks of confusion were priceless "I am easily the best fist fighter of the group but I despise all forms of conflict. Before you ask, I spent most of my time training the new recruits. And Zack here," he motioned to Zack "Is my pupil or student, if you will."

"If you've got energy to make small talk, you can walk. We're moving on," Genesis stated before turning and leaving, the rest of us soon following.

Countless fights later, we found our way into a very open part of the Ark. It was so large and lacking many structural features, it was hard to believe that we were still inside something. There was something along the lines of a balcony but it what was waiting for us on that balcony that concerned me. The man that had assisted us earlier, Cid Raines, was calmly waiting for us.

"Raines?" Snow sounded confused. Cid started to walk towards us.

"What?" Fang sounded very suspicious, I felt just as suspicious.

"Easy, guys, it's all right," Snow said, to Aerith, Sazh, and Vanille, I assumed "Raines is a Sanctum officer. He's been helping us out-"

"Why are you here?" Genesis demanded, cutting off Snow. Genesis' tone caught me off guard, I'm pretty sure it surprised most, if not all the others. Cid said nothing and kept walking towards us.

"I came to tell you something very important," Raines stated when he was fairly close to us "Cocoon's entire chain of command-" Genesis' rapier pinwheeling through the air next to me and slamming into Raines' chest, blade first, interrupted him.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

"What the?" Snow shouted.

"What?" Sazh added.

"Genesis!" Angeal shouted the loudest.

I was stunned. I wanted to do something but I could only stare as Raines fell to his knees as blood soaked his front and Genesis walked over to him. In one movement, Genesis pulled his sword free from Raines and flicked the blood off the red blade. He then grabbed Raines' shirt, spun, and threw Raines across the area into the wall behind us.

"So hard to find people you can trust, nowadays," Genesis said nonchalantly "But I guess this means we will just have to skip a few steps."

"What're you talkin' about?" Fang nearly shouted. The shock had worn off of me and I fell into my battle stance.

"If I told you now, it would ruin the fun. Now it is time for you all to show me what you are made of," Genesis ran his hand down the flat side of his sword, the blade started to glow, symbols appeared, and what looked like flames erupted from the blade. He pointed his sword at us and a single large, black feathered wing, sprouted from the left side of his back.

I charged at him, Angeal and Zack shouted at me, and Genesis smiled arrogantly before lunging at me. He was just a red blur before appearing in front of me, his sword already arcing towards me. I brought up my sword to block and the moment his sword met mine, I saw a flash and felt my feet leave the ground. Next thing I knew, I was on my back at Fang's feet. She helped me back up and I started to summon Odin, the others with Eidolons followed suit shortly.

"Resorting to those so early? Very well," Genesis slightly waved his left hand and two sets of symbols appeared. A flash of red and gold later and there was a very large gold dragon and something that I could only call a demon, were beside him.

"These guys again?" Zack said as he stepped up to the front.

"Don't get so smug, Puppy. Last time, you did not have to protect anyone," a cruel smile grew on Genesis' face at that.

"Snow, Lightning," Angeal said to us quickly "Send your Eidolons at the green one. Aerith, Sazh, Sephiroth send yours at the dragon. Snow, Fang, Sazh, Zack, think you can handle the heat?"

"Hell yeah!" Fang shouted back.

"Hope, Aerith, Vanille, you three are with me on the dragon. Lightning, you're with Sephiroth," Angeal continued. Strange, it was usually Sephiroth giving the orders. I looked to him for a moment and saw the coldest, darkest glare I had ever seen in my life.

"Ifrit! Fury! Destroy them!" Genesis shouted to the creatures.

The green demon took one step and threw a massive fireball at us and the gold dragon fired a beam out of its mouth. On one side of our group, the beam hit and on the other side, the fireball hit. Two explosions shook the floor and threw us off our feet. Just as we were recovering from the attack the demon was charging at us and the dragon looked like it was waiting for us but that wasn't my target. Since I was paired with Sephiroth, I assumed our target was Genesis. Everyone quickly got to their feet and charged towards their targets.

To say the absolute least, the battle was complete chaos. All manner of spells were flying everywhere, more than once I felt a fire spell singe the fine hairs on my arms. Several times I heard someone yell out as they were hit by a spell or one of the creatures. Not to mention it was just plain dangerous to be fighting next to Sephiroth right now. Something changed in him because more often than not, I was dodging his attacks at Genesis more than Genesis' attacks at me. Something changed and it was causing him to focus on Genesis to the point where I no longer existed to him. I swear that if I got distracted for even a moment, Sephiroth's sword would have sliced right through me. Eventually though, I got a perfect chance to strike. Genesis and Sephiroth locked their swords, I switched Blaze Edge into gun mode and fired three times.

Genesis stumbled back and looked down at his chest for a moment. His gaze snapped to me, he growled like a feral beast and charged. Sephiroth impaled him a second after he started to charge at me. He threw Genesis aside and with two loud roars, the demon and the gold dragon vanished. Genesis pushed himself up off the ground and started to slowly walk back towards the ledge.

"Seems I... Underestimated you," Genesis choked out.

"You've never been able to beat Sephiroth, Genesis," Angeal said like he was pointing out something obvious. Genesis just smirked at us.

"Not like this at least," Genesis had reached the ledge and leaned back until he fell.

A bright flash came from below the ledge and it was followed by a huge red and black steel hand. The hand slammed down onto the area we were standing and a massive black feathered wing with a red ridge came into view, the whole thing was made of metal. The thing that came into view had a gigantic sword held in a way that would let it slash at any time. The longer I stared at the giant robot looking thing the more it looked like an Eidolon or worse, a fal'Cie.

"An Eidolon?" Hope shouted, his tone said he was panicking.

"Can't be. That's a fal'Cie," Sazh said.

"Nope," Zack replied "That is Genesis."

"Your efforts to overcome your curse end here!" the thing yelled down at us. It was Genesis' voice.

'Genesis' held out his left hand and flames roared out of it. It looked like a large wave washing up on shore, the difference being, this wave was made entirely of fire. With the help of the Eidolons, we were all shielded from the flames and once the flames died down, the real fight began. A while later, after torrents of magic, we had done nothing to Genesis but we were being kicked around harshly.

"We have to attack at the same time!" Snow shouted. I hated to admit it, but he had the right idea.

"Everyone! With your Eidolons, now!" I commanded.

Once the smoke cleared, I felt like falling to my knees and giving up. Genesis looked no worse for wear, he just shook slightly to get some ash and water off of himself.

"Don't tell me you actually expected that to work," he chuckled at us "Did you really think I wouldn't expect something like that? Did you forget that I had been traveling with you long enough to know, more or less, what you were capable of?"

Without thinking, I charged at him. A feral shout found its way out of my belly as I ran and I faintly heard Genesis laugh. The giant red blade started towards me and I ducked under it, watching it as we went in opposite directions. As soon as I was back on my feet, the massive red and black hand caught me. The fingers were crushing my left arm against me and the thumb was under my right arm, to Genesis, I was no bigger than a doll. He brought me close to his face and I saw that his eyes were still bright blue and very human, which I found very disturbing.

"Lightning!" Hope, Fang, and Zack shouted together.

"One wrong move and I will crush her into a bloody pulp," Genesis looked away from me for just a moment and that's all I needed.

I flipped Blaze Edge into gun mode, raised it and took a shot. The bullet sailed towards and drilled straight through his eye. Genesis howled in pain but didn't throw me like I expected, he slammed me into the ground.

Next thing I saw was Vanille's and Aerith's big, bright green eyes staring down at me. Hope was also with, which I noticed briefly after. After fighting with them for a little while I stood up and looked around. Angeal and Zack were off to one side discussing something, Sazh, Fang, and Snow were over by Raines' body, likely trying to figure out what to do, and Sephiroth was standing over Genesis' body, the red warrior was no longer the giant fal'Cie like thing. Sephiroth was missing the pauldron from his right shoulder and I saw it, in pieces, several feet from where Sephiroth was standing. The pauldron was mangled and looked ready to shatter. I'm curious as to what happened after I was knocked out and how long I was out.

"You okay, Light?" Hope asked, he was genuinely worried about me. It made me feel... I dunno... Happy, I think.

"I'm fine, Hope. Thank you, the three of you."

"We're moving on," Sephiroth commanded. That's when I noticed that he was holding his sword, extended behind him. Hope jogged up to and in front of him and the rest of us started walking over.

"Sephiroth," Hope started, he sounded very nervous "I think we should take some to rest and-"

"Get out of my way," Sephiroth said calmly but I could hear the cold edge in his tone.

"What?" Hope seemed confused.

Sephiroth grabbed Hope's shirt and tossed him aside. I ran up to Hope and helped him to his feet, the boy was looking around and making noises as he tried to figure out what just happened. Then I marched up to Sephiroth, Blaze Edge in hand, and grabbed his arm to get his attention so I could give him a piece of my mind. Before I could even do anything, he slammed the pommel of his sword into my gut, making me double over, then his fist crashed into my cheekbone, and his knee hit me right where my brand is, knocking me down. Looking up at him, I saw that the glare he had at the start of the battle was still there and I actually flinched at it. He looked up and shot the glare at everyone else before turning around and walking away.

Once again, Fang helped me to my feet.

"What the hell is his problem?" Fang growled. All I wanted right now was to either drive my sword through his heart or put a bullet between his eyes but something suddenly appeared in my mind.

"_Are you sure we can trust your friends? We are Pulse l'Cie after all," I partially growled without meaning to._

"_I trust them with my life and they would sooner die than… hurt a friend," Sephiroth replied with his calm tone._

I understood now, Sephiroth trusted Genesis with his life, and Genesis just stabbed him in the back. If the roles had been reversed, I would have lashed out just the same as Sephiroth did, which I am not proud of.

"When I get my hands on him..." Snow growled as he punched his hand.

"Calm down, Snow. Genesis was his friend and he just betrayed us," I didn't know my voice could go this soft when talking to _Snow_ "I would have done the same thing."

I glanced back and and saw Zack and Angeal exchange worried glances and Aerith looked like she had just witnessed a brutal murder. I don't see what the fuss is about, Sephiroth just lashed out after being betrayed by one of his friends. Anyone who doesn't lash out after being betrayed is just... not human.

~~~~Jenova's POV~~~~

The red vehicle rolled and bounced a few times before coming to a rest about fifty feet from it had been. I brushed the red paint chips off my glove and turned back to look at the burning wreckage of the Palamecia. Small explosions still sporadically popped around the ship as the fire ignited whatever flammable materials were still dry. The ship had landed in what the Cocoon humans call a sea, which is the size of a lake on Gran Pulse. Funny enough, the Palamecia had actually crashed close to Bodhum.

"What is the matter?" a familiar male voice asked me.

"My agent was just killed. That damned Cid Raines forced my hand," Raines... How he was able to shake my influence for even a moment still confounded me "And whoever sent that ship to aid Sephiroth and those others, I will find and kill.

"Shall I still move along with the plans?" the man asked.

"There has been a change of plans. Gather your brothers, find them, and get me the Black Materia."

"The Black Materia? Are you sure that is here?" I just sent a dark glare at the silver haired man standing just behind me. I admit, I like the PSICOM uniform much more than the SOLDIER uniform "I apologize. What should I do about the l'Cie?"

"Burn them, crush them, drown them, I don't care. Just get me the Black Materia and don't kill Sephiroth. Feel free to do what you want to him, just don't kill him."

"Right away, Mother. We will return with the Materia."

"You're a good boy Yaag. Just be careful, Kadaj is rather impulsive," Yaag gave me a deep bow before turning and leaving. Why couldn't all my children be as obedient as him?

**Things are really starting to move along now aren't they? Want to guess what Aerith, Angeal, and Zack are thinking?**

**Couple of notes: Ifrit appears as he does in Crisis Core and Fury is Bahamut Fury, just in case someone happened to miss that boss battle. And the form Genesis took was the Genesis Avatar from Crisis Core. **

**I feel like I botched the whole 'l'Cie finding Cid Raines' scene. If there is a way I can improve it, please tell me. I want to make sure these chapters are great.**

**As you may have noticed, I am trying to cut down on how often I change the POV. I am still debating whether or not to drop the first-person-perspective narration. If you feel one way or the other, let me know. Then again, maybe I will just use a regular narration for certain things, like anything funny or not related to the story.**

**Please leave a Review and tell me if there are any spelling/grammar errors. And if something doesn't flow right or is just plain confusing, tell me. I tend to leave out words, the whole mind moving faster than I can type thing.**


	27. Chapter 27

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

Things were starting to get very bad. After the fight with Genesis, all the progress Sephiroth had made towards changing and all the trust that had been built with the people of this world, was gone. Lightning, Sazh, and Fang were the most suspicious of us, they kept giving us looks and Lightning was at least trying to hide it. Snow seemed to be conflicted because I knew he and Zack had become friends almost right away. Hope looked depressed that Sephiroth had just completely cast him away, literally I have to add. When I looked at Vanille, she looked like she just wanted to give me a hug but Fang wouldn't let her.

Zack was trying to comfort me but I knew, and he knew, I assumed, that this was going to be a very hard situation to fix.

The fight with the dragon-looking-thing, Bahamut, I think Fang called it, was pretty hard. After that, we were lead down to a airship by a walkway made of glowing symbols. I was scared to death by the thought of walking on it but Zack kept his arm around my waist and lead me down the path. Sazh piloted the ship and we went through a portal that took us to Pulse, according to Fang and Vanille.

Not five minutes after coming out of the portal, we were attacked. The ship went down and to stay alive me and Fang had to summon Bahamut and Valkyrie. Sephiroth had summoned Zalera but did not even attempt to help anyone, I think he was starting to think we were holding him back. Well that, or he was getting dangerously close to repeating what happened in Nibelheim.

We made camp in the canyon the ship finally stopped in. Fang and Vanille called the canyon Vallis Media, which made me think that all the names for places here were much better than on Gaia. Although, that might have something to do with Shinra. Three days after setting up a campsite, Sephiroth still had not said one word to anyone and still had the glare from the fight with Genesis. Every morning, at dawn, he would leave the camp and would not be seen until sunset. When he was at camp, he would stand away from us in the shadows and glare at us.

The way Sephiroth was acting was starting to affect us all. The Cocoon people, and the Pulse women, had stopped talking to us from Gaia and soon after we stayed on opposite sides of the camp fire. Zack was getting irritated really easily, mainly at the others, he would glare at them whenever they sent us a distrustful look. Angeal on the other hand just simply looked like he had no idea what to do and probably didn't. He just sat and made sure the fire kept burning through the night.

I listened to the others conversations every now and again. A couple of times I heard Sazh talking about Dajh and Fang and Vanille telling stories. I never heard what Hope talked about but Snow usually talked about Serah and Lightning was usually being mean to him or Fang.

On the fourth day, Angeal had enough. When Sephiroth came back to camp, Angeal stood up and walked over to him. Sephiroth turned away and started to leave but Angeal caught up to him.

"I'm tired of this, Sephiroth," Angeal sounded so worried and friendly "Tell me what is wrong. You, of all people, know why it's bad to brood on something," Angeal grabbed Sephiroth's left arm as he was talking and Sephiroth let go of his sword, spun around, and punched Angeal right in the mouth. Angeal and Sephiroth's sword hit the ground at the same time.

Sephiroth then grabbed Angeal's shirt, picked him up, and slammed him against the stone wall of the canyon. Everyone but me was on their feet, so I stood up, and Angeal raised his hand to tell us to stay back. At least, that what I'm assuming he meant.

"How long?" Sephiroth spoke calmly, but his tone was ice cold.

"What?" Angeal sounded confused.

"How long did you know about Genesis' plan?"

"Sephiroth, I didn't-"

"How long did you know Genesis was our enemy? How long until you stab me in the back again?" Sephiroth was starting to yell.

"What are you-" Sephiroth shoved Angeal back and his head bounced off the rock.

"Don't play dumb with me, Angeal!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," How could Angeal be so calm?

"You betray Zack, the student you handpicked from the hundreds of recruits that looked up to you. After you left, Shinra was breathing down my neck just waiting for me to slip up. All you do is preach honor and loyalty, yet all you have done is betray me," Angeal suddenly had a very mean look "You are nothing but a traitor."

"I'm a traitor?" Angeal swung his fist upwards, an uppercut, right into Sephiroth's jaw. Sephiroth fell back onto the ground and Angeal stood over him "I'm the traitor? I left without telling you so you could deny all knowledge of the desertion and I had to leave to protect Genesis from that vulture, Hollander! Genesis only left because he was dying and Hollander promised him a cure he didn't have and everything I did was in the best interests of all of us! And you... You have no place calling anyone a traitor," Sephiroth was back on his feet in an instant.

"You turned your back on SOLDIER!"

"I turned against an evil mega-corporation, you turned against the entire world!"

Sephiroth lunged at Angeal and they fell to the ground. I looked around and saw that Zack and the l'Cie wanted to split them apart but also saw that they had the look of really not wanting to get any closer to the fight. The two on the ground worked back onto their feet, then back onto the ground, a few times but the fight eventually ended with Angeal pinning Sephiroth with both arms on his back, a move I saw Tifa use on soldiers a lot.

"Alright, Sephiroth. Shut up, listen closely, and step down off that pedestal of yours. If you weren't such an arrogant, narcissistic, short-tempered child, you would've seen that what we thought was Genesis, clearly wasn't," Angeal had to take a lot deep breaths while he was saying that.

"How can you possibly know that?" Sephiroth, well, growled at Angeal.

"How can I-?" Angeal looked, bewildered, I think the word is "Sephiroth, I knew him my entire life, I grew up with him. We adopted each other as brothers for Gaia's sake! If that had been the real Genesis in the Ark, do you really think I would have let you kill him?" Angeal let go of Sephiroth's arms and got up. Sephiroth pushed himself up until he was sitting and started to wipe the dirt off his face and clothes. Angeal walked to the edge of the campsite and sat down, staring at Sephiroth the whole time.

"I think it's about time for you to explain everything," Sephiroth shot a glare over at Angeal as he stood up "All of you had better get comfortable, this will be a very long story."

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

I guess I can't hide my history from the people of this world anymore. The battle with Genesis and the fight with Angeal have really forced my hand. Oh well. But seriously Angeal, explain everything? Where do I begin? Do you have any idea how much I have to explain before telling them how I wound up here? These people don't posses the ability to understand what our world was like, how it wound up that way, or even the importance of the Lifestream. Well, that might be a good place to start, start with the foundation of all life.

"Before I explain _everything_, I want you to know that this will sound," Completely insane? "Like all new kinds of crazy."

"Try us," Fang taunted me.

"Can't be any crazier than what we have already been through," Sazh said with a comforting type of tone.

"First of all, Angeal, Zack, Aerith, Genesis, and myself, are from another world. Our world is called Gaia," Snow was just about to ask me something, I just stared at him for a moment to shut him up "Throughout Gaia there is the Lifestream. That's what we call the river of life that circles our world, giving life to the world and everything in it. The Lifestream is the very foundation of life, all come from and return to it. It eternally drifts back and forth across the boundary between life and death, forever enforcing constant change upon our world, ensuring continuous evolution of all life. Or so ancient writings say."

Glancing around I noticed three things, Lightning and Fang were trying to not look interested, Snow seemed to comprehending my words, and the rest of the l'Cie looked completely fascinated. Funny, I thought they would have been doubting my sanity the moment I said we from Gaia were, well as I said, from Gaia. Since none of them looked ready to interrupt me, I guess I will continue. Maybe they are waiting until I finish the story to question my sanity. Only one way to find out.

I continued to explain the Lifestream, how it worked, what it was, and how an ancient civilization was able to speak to it. I didn't bother telling them the name of the Ancients, the Cetra, or that Aerith was the last of them. It was unnecessary knowledge.

"Wait, so these Ancients," Vanille interrupted "They were an empire greater than us humans?" I nodded to her "Well what happened to them?"

"I was getting to that. The civilization of the Ancients was entirely wiped out by an extraterrestrial being, an alien, that dubbed itself Jenova," Theres the looks of skepticism I was expecting.

"An alien?" Snow sounded ready to laugh, I didn't blame him. First time I heard it, I almost laughed.

"I wish I was lying. Your fal'Cie to Jenova would be like a crippled rodent to an Eidolon," Surprise and doubt crossed the faces of the l'Cie.

I went on to explain how Jenova had used her – more like it's – immense power to obliterate cities, alter the land, and assassinate people, take on their form, and consume more and more people until the Ancients society and infrastructure collapsed. That part of the tale had always bugged me, it just didn't seem right, like two stories had been mixed into one. My reason for thinking that is, I know Jenova, she is violent, aggressive, and loves to watch absolute chaos unfold. Then again, Jenova is psychotic, who knows why she was obliterating cities then suddenly switched to a more subtle approach.

After explaining how the Cetra had sacrificed what was left of themselves to seal away Jenova, I skimmed over the history between the fall of the Cetra and modern day. I told them about the humble beginnings of the Shinra Electric Power Company and their world changing discovery. Explaining Mako Energy and Reactors was no easy task, especially since I didn't fully understand either concept. Next I told them about how Shinra managed to develop into a mega-corporation, privatized the military force of the world, established a stranglehold over the entire world, and eliminated any who opposed them. I also told them about the different departments, weapons, science, the Turks, and the others which never really caught my eye.

"So what does this have to do with-" Snow started to interrupt me.

"Shinra found Jenova," the l'Cie looked quite surprised at what I said.

"They found an ancient alien that destroyed a whole civilization?" Sazh's skepticism was starting to irritate me.

"Yes, they excavated her from a two thousand year old rock layer. After mistakenly thinking she was an Ancient, the Jenova project began," The sun had fully set and now the only light was from the campfire. It suited this part of the story quite well.

Telling them about the experiments leading up to the creation of SOLDIER, purposely leaving out Projects G and S, made me think about how delicate the human psyche really is. Hope and Vanille looked terrified, Snow and Sazh looked nauseous (understandable as some of the experiments I told them about had very... unexpected results), Lightning was trying to not looked spooked, and Fang had a challenging look in her eyes, as if trying to tell me that she had seen things that were much worse than what I had just spoke of.

SOLDIER was an interesting topic for me. As hard I tried to keep my voice devoid of any emotion, I know I sounded nostalgic. I couldn't help it, I had genuinely enjoyed my life in SOLDIER. I told them about how fast I rose through the ranks, how I became a world renown hero, and how I met Genesis and Angeal only because they had wanted to be famous hero's like me. I added the detail of how Zack had the same reason for joining SOLDIER. Snow eyes lit up and I knew exactly what was coming next.

"You're an actual hero?" he made sound more like a statement than a question "Must have been amazing to be that famous."

"I will be honest," Snow looked like he was expecting me to say something negative "It was a pleasant time in my life. Shinra would bend over backwards to ensure I had whatever I wanted. Everything I wear and my sword is custom made, the coat by itself is worth a small fortune."

The next part of the story was how Angeal and Genesis basically forced me to be their friend and how we became the famous trio. After that was the story of how Genesis got injured and wound up leaving SOLDIER, taking the majority of the Second and Third Class with him. I talked about the mission to Wutai, how Angeal vanished and my first encounters with the Genesis copies.

"Wait, copies?" This time Lightning interrupted me "You mean Genesis was cloned? You must have hit your head harder than we thought," questioning my sanity by mentioning a wound from shortly after we met, that's a good way to make others doubt someone.

"It's true, I fought hundreds of them," I was not expecting Zack to take my side in this.

"And as I said before, the Genesis we fought in the Ark, that was a copy. A very good one, I might add," Angeal is a great friend, defending me even after I was just a breath from killing him a short while ago.

I recounted everything that happened during the Genesis copy events but stopped when I reached the most important part of my story. When I spoke of what happened in Modeoheim, I just skimmed the details because, well, it wasn't me that went there. I know that was when Zack struck down Angeal but I only knew what was in the reports. And finally, I reached Nibelheim, the part of my life that changed everything, the village where everything started. I told them about the trip there, who accompanied me there, our guide for the mountain trail, my meeting with Genesis in the Mako Reactor, and my seven day isolation. Following that, I told them what I learned from the hundreds of books of reports on the Jenova Project and its central two sub-projects, G and S. Projects Gillian and Sephiroth, headed by rival scientists, a contest to see who could create the better super-soldier.

"Wait, hold up a second," Sazh interrupted again "If I understand what you said correctly, you're half an alien."

"Actually no, the only human traits I have is my appearance and my mind. My human mother was used as a surrogate to give my true mother, Jenova, a child. Because of my true mother, I am perfect," With Sazh around, I'm glad I kept most details to myself. Things like how I was stolen from Lucrecia, the hell of a childhood I had, and all the other details along those lines.

"A lot of people think that, Pretty Boy," Is Fang incapable of keeping her mouth shut for more than twenty minutes?

"Due to my genetic heritage, I am naturally stronger, faster, smarter, will fully recover from any injury, recover much faster, and I am immune to all human diseases, narcotics, and unfortunately medicines," The looks on their faces told me exactly what they were thinking, that I was a completely insane narcissist "Because of my ability to only take in the traits of others, it is impossible for me to use my power to heal anyone but myself. I was made to be the perfect warrior, but Shinra did not create a warrior, they created a literal god of combat."

"You think highly of yourself," Lightning's insult had no effect on me.

"I was even conditioned to not feel pity, mercy, compassion, or anything else that would stand in the way of completing a mission. From the reports, I learned I wasn't meant to be a leader, not a soldier, not a warrior. Shinra did not even want me to be a slave, they wanted me to be their weapon and that is exactly what I was, just another tool to remind the populace of the world that Shinra controlled everything and everyone, even their _beloved _hero," I spat the word beloved because the people of Gaia had been forced to regard me as a hero, they could think what Shinra allowed them to "And all at once, everything came to me, all the lies, all the betrayals, all the pointless things I had done for a world that was terrified of the people I mindlessly obeyed," I looked around at everyone and saw that even Zack, Angeal, and Aerith were listening closely "All of you would say, that's when I snapped, I say that's when I woke up."

Next, I told them about how I left the mansion, walked to the middle of Nibelheim and calmly set every building on fire, except the mansion because there was no one in there. I assured them that the fire wasn't meant to harm anyone, just flush them out. So I could personally cut them down. I even told them that the only people in Nibelheim were the elderly, mothers, and children; all the young men had left to either work or sign up to SOLDIER to be just like me. The looks of absolute horror that crossed their faces, excluding Angeal, Zack, and Aerith, were amusing. Angeal had seen much worse in his time with SOLDIER, Zack was right there in Nibelheim with me and just looked depressed, maybe about not being able to save anyone, and Aerith, as I understand it, grew up in the Midgar slums, much worse things than death happened there. I continued the story with going up to the Reactor, the first time I saw Jenova, my battle with Zack, getting stabbed with the Buster Sword by Cloud, stabbing Cloud, and how he used my sword to throw me into the Mako reservoir.

"That is the first time I was ever bested and the first time I died," I looked at them for looks of disbelief but only saw the remaining horror.

"You... You killed... Children!" Sazh was almost in tears, Vanille on the other hand was crying.

"Two things. One, they didn't suffer. Two, I didn't kill your son, did I?"

"No! But what does-"

"Then be quiet. Besides," Something Lightning said a while back occurred to me and I looked her dead in the eye "Target's a target."

"What?" Lightning nearly roared at me

"Target's a target, I just changed sides. Now that I think about it, we're not so different, Lightning," Why am I doing this? Why do I suddenly feel the urge to stir things up?

"Don't say that! We're nothing alike!" Lightning had her weapon out and looked ready to attempt to take my head off my shoulders.

"How could you say that? You're a monster!" Snow was now also on his feet and shouting at me.

"Back in Palumpolum, she told Fang and I that if it wasn't for Serah, she would have been alongside the soldiers pursuing us. Cutting down civilians," That instantly took the wind out of Lightning's sails and redirected Snow, who now looked torn "The cruelty of your fal'Cie will never compare to the of the humans they control. Now to continue my story from where I was interrupted."

I told them about my time in the Lifestream, how I rebuilt my body, and discovered my puppet. The boy that Shinra enhanced with my cells, the boy that had stabbed me. I told them about how I manipulated and used him to achieve my own ends, about my grand scheme to absorb the Lifestream and become god. Next was how I commanded the left over Jenova body to shapeshift into me and butcher its way out of the Shinra headquarters. I continued up until I got to the part about the city of the Ancients but I was cut off by Sazh once again.

"You did all this while you were dead? Wait, you were killed but didn't actually die?"

"Exactly, my original body was damaged then destroyed but I resisted being taken into the Lifestream by focusing on my anger and hatred. My body was killed but my mind lived on."

I told them about how I killed Aerith, and got Aerith to show them the scars from the Masamune which were just above her naval and on her upper back. Then I told them about the incident at the Northern Cave that resulted in the WEAPON's being released and Cloud being freed of my control. How I summoned Meteor, Shinra moving the Sister Ray, and then what happened in the Northern Cave the second time. I told them how after my second defeat, Meteor and Holy tore Midgar apart and then the Lifestream had to aid Holy in destroying Meteor.

The next chapter I told everyone was the events surrounding the creation of my Remnants, and their mission. I told them about the Geostigma, how I created it, unleashed it through my Remnants, and tried to take revenge on the world. Next was my final battle with Cloud in the ruins of Midgar and how he defeated me, again. My final time in the Lifestream was the next topic, how I drifted through the Lifestream for about eighteen months and how I started thinking over everything. I told them how I prayed for a chance at redemption, woke up in the Hanging Edge with Aerith, and about twenty minutes later had the blade of the Masamune against Lightning's throat.

"Wait, this all happened in the last ten years?" Snow was shouting from disbelief "That's! That's... impossible..."

"Call me a skeptic but," It's surprising how level headed Sazh could be through all this "It's a little hard to swallow. I know those three," he pointed at Angeal, Zack, and Aerith "Support your story, and she even has the scars like you said she would, but do you have any solid evidence? It's easy to get people to agree on a false story, criminals do it all the time."

"I like the way you think, Sazh," I genuinely did, it's that kind of thinking that keeps people alive and safe "And here is your proof."

I summoned the Masamune to my hand, held my hand over the guard, and extracted the Black Materia. I tossed the ink black sphere over to the people of this world and it landed with a soft thud at their feet, it did not bounce at all. For good measure I summoned my Eidolith crystal, as they call it, and held it up so they would see the difference between the two spheres.

"Is that? No, can't be," Hope had the look of not wanting to believe what I said was true.

"That is the ultimate destructive power. That is the Black Materia," I stated that proudly to them.

"You've had this the entire time?" Lightning was staring at the small orb, completely stunned. Hard to believe something so small can be so powerful.

"I used it to defeat Odin back in the Vile Peaks. That's when I found out how much of my former power had been taken from me," the first light of dawn caught my attention and I turned away from everyone "It's dawn, get some sleep. I'll see you all back here at dusk. Aerith, you're in charge of the Black Materia."

With that, I left them for another day. I wonder what they all think about me now. Hopefully now Fang will leave me alone and Snow will actually keep some of his moronic thoughts to himself.

**That was not fun to write. Not because of it being long or lack of motivation, it's just that there was no real action. Not much happened, in my opinion at least. I am probably going to tweak this chapter like five or six times before the next chapter is posted because I forgot half of the fight between Angeal and Seph.**

**As always, please leave a Review. Whoever leaves a review is awesome and will get internet points. Also, please let me know about any spelling/grammar errors.**


	28. Chapter 28

**I know it's short, and very late but here it is.**

~~~~Unknown POV~~~~

The darkness swirled around me, sliding over my arms and chest, it whispered alluring lies in my ears, tasted enchantingly sweet, and had a heavy scent of death. This darkness had consumed, no... devoured many people a year ago but this is how I travel. It may be a manifestation of evil and death but it allows the manipulator to travel around the world in mere moments.

With a sweep of my arm, I banished the darkness and the ground slammed into my feet. Taking a brief look around, the first thing that met my eyes was dark hair, and a pristine uniform with a large crimson stain down the front. With large strides, I crossed the distance between us and took a knee in front of the dark haired body. I summoned a small piece of the lifestream and charged three strong healing spells. Placing my hand over the body's wound, I released the healing spells and the lifestream piece into it. Before my eyes the wound sealed itself and the body took a deep gasp of life giving air. He looked up into my eyes in surprise and I noticed the reflection of my shining blues.

"Who are-"

"A friend," I interrupted "Now listen, I brought you back for a reason. Return to the Cavalry and gather your forces. Prepare them for war, for the enemy we are up against is far worse than the worst nightmare of the fal'Cie," before he could reply, I summoned the darkness and wrapped it around him. I felt his presence suddenly appear on the Palamecia due to the darkness and released him to complete the mission I gave him.

"Now," I announced to the air around me "Where are you hiding, Sephiroth?" I asked the air as I wrapped the darkness around myself to continue my search.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

"That's the Black Materia?" Hope sounded terrified.

I couldn't believe what I heard either. Sephiroth's story just sounded so insane it couldn't possibly be true but there was a solid piece of evidence staring us in the face. If he had actually been telling the truth, that large black marble had enough power to pull Cocoon out of the sky. There is no way something so small can have so much power, that's just crazy.

"This is the ultimate destructive power? Doesn't look very powerful," Snow said as he bent down to pick up the small orb.

I'm assuming this happened the moment he touched it. But when he did there was a crack of thunder, a black bolt of lightning flew out of the orb, hit Snow in the chest and sent him flaying into the rock wall, which most likely knocked him out cold. Aerith and Vanille were at his side in a moment.

"What just happened?" Fang nearly shouted.

"Sephiroth was really telling the truth," I said quietly, unintentionally.

"So he is here with us even though he died. Three times, I might add?" Sazh was having a hard time believing the story.

"Don't forget he killed Aerith there, apparently," Fang added.

"And tens of thousands of people who lived in _Midgar_," Hope stated.

"Zack and I were also killed," Angeal said loud enough for all of us to hear.

"What?" Snow basically slurred, must have hit his head pretty hard.

"In Modeoheim I forced Zack to kill me. That is how he came to be in possession of the Buster Sword."

"And I fought an army's worth of soldiers by myself. I was gunned down in the end and then passed the Buster sword onto Cloud," The way Zack said that reminded me of a child admitting to something embarrassing.

"So all of you were dead?" Vanille asked, it was hard to tell if she believed them or not. Angeal, Zack, and Aerith looked between each other for a moment.

"Yeah, all of us were dead and gone. I'm not sure about Genesis though," Angeal answered for them.

"It must have been Etro then," Vanille said with a smile, she must have seen all of us looking at her, because she cowered slightly.

"Seriously, Vanille?" Fang asked.

"Well who else can bring someone back from the dead?" Vanille pouted.

"Apparently Sephiroth," Sazh answered.

"Look it doesn't matter who brought them here or why," I interrupted "Doesn't change the fact that Sephiroth has slaughtered thousands."

"And Sephiroth is here to redeem himself by saving Cocoon. Or did you ignore that part of the story?" Angeal said to me "Let me just say this, if Sephiroth was still the bloodthirsty maniac that got him here, he would have killed you all the moment he met you."

"I would've loved to see him try that," Fang said arrogantly with a smirk plastered on her face.

"How many times did you turn your back to him?" Zack asked, his tone was very dark.

"Everyone, please calm down," Aerith practically begged us. Her voice was not very loud but it got everyone's attention "We all need to get some sleep and then we can figure out what to do about this," As she spoke she grabbed the black orb and slipped it into the pocket of her small coat.

She had a good point, we were all exhausted from staying up all night to listen to the story. So without too many objections, we bedded down.

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

The next day was really quiet. Fang and Angeal went out to gather some food for the day but not much else happened. No one even talked much. When Angeal and Fang returned we ate in silence and barely left the camp site. I guess everyone was just processing everything Sephiroth had talked about.

I pulled the Black Materia out of my pocket and looked at it. Never had a chance to look at it before and now that I am, I don't want to. It feels like a solid piece of evil, definitely not something a human should be holding.

"So why doesn't that hurt you?" Snow asked.

"I..." That's actually a really good question "I guess you just don't know how to use materia," I answered with a smile, trying to lighten up the situation a bit.

Just as he said he would, Sephiroth came back at sundown. He came over to me and held out his hand, asking for the Black Materia so I gave it to him and he put it back into the Masamune. As he started walking back to his spot Fang stood up and grabbed her spear.

"So you claim you were a legend back home," Her tone was dark and sarcastic at the same time, kind of confusing "Why don't you prove it?"

Sephiroth slowly turned and looked Fang up and down before letting a slight smirk appear on his face. I almost want to laugh at how Sephiroth looked like he thought Fang was joking.

"You can't be serious," Fang glared at Sephiroth after he said that "I may be limited to the abilities of a second class lieutenant but you barely fight at the level of a third class rookie."

"What?" Fang growled, understanding his reference to the SOLDIER ranks "You want to run that by me again, Pretty Boy?"

"Your weapon is built for strength and speed. After watching how you fight, you seem determined to only use the strength aspect, but I guess it's understandable. Finesse is much harder to learn," Fang looked ready to kill Sephiroth "I won't fight you because I have the unfair advantage of speed. The only one I would fight is Lightning because she is the only one of your group that would even have a chance of matching my speed," Sephiroth chuckled lightly but stopped when Lightning pulled out her weapon and changed it into a sword.

"Let's go then."

"I wasn't serious about fighting you,"

"What? Is the great General scared of Sergeant Sunshine?" Fang taunted. I giggled when Sephiroth and Lightning sent a glare at Fang.

"Very well," Sephiroth said, sounding very annoyed. He walked away from us, summoned his sword, and kept his back to us "Ready when you are."

Fang and Lightning looked at each other, then they both ran at Sephiroth and jumped to attack him. Way faster than most people could move, Sephiroth also jumped up, spun around and kicked Fang into Lightning, sending them both to the ground, then landed calmly as if nothing had happened. Those two fighting to get on to their feet would have been funny but I was shocked at how fast Sephiroth had moved. Sephiroth had a 'are-you-serious?' look and Angeal was quietly laughing.

"What's so funny, Big Guy?" Fang shouted with a mix of angry and cheerful.

"Just thinking about how many times Genesis and I fell into the trap," Angeal had a wide smile on his face but there was some sadness in it.

Lightning and Fang fought Sephiroth for a long while. I watched for a bit but lost interest and decided to help mend some of the others clothing and cooked some of the food. I chatted with Sazh about anything other than our Focus, his son, or Sephiroth's story. When the sound of weapons hitting each other ended, I looked back at where the three had been fighting. Sephiroth look a bit tired, and Fang and Lightning looked ready to collapse.

"You really are tough," Fang said between deep breaths.

"I never lied while telling my story," Sephiroth replied with a bored tone.

"I made up my mind," Lightning announced to us, then walked over to the campsite and took a long drink of water "Sephiroth, you may be a murderer, and deserve a bullet to the head, but you have proven several times that you are a very good ally. So, welcome back to our group."

"Thank you for accepting me back," Sephiroth said with a small nod.

"Don't think this means we trust you again. You have to prove you are trustworthy and that your PTSD won't make you a threat or liability," Lightning's tone was very threatening but Sephiroth just laughed.

"Believe me, you're the one that has to worry about becoming a liability."

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

The next day was an interesting one. The l'Cie were still very wary of me but that was understandable as I bested their best fighters yesterday. When Fang and Angeal returned from gathering breakfast, Fang had the meat and Angeal had an assortment of plants, it was promptly cooked up and served. At one point, Fang held out a large piece of meat to me.

"No, thanks."

"You have to eat something, Pretty Boy," I growl unintentionally at Fang's nickname for me and took another bite of the fruit I had.

"I don't eat meat," As soon as those words left my mouth, all of the l'Cie's eyes were on me.

"Ha, yeah right, Pretty Boy," Fang waved the meat around in face for a moment.

"I'm serious, Fang."

"Actually he is a vegan," Angeal answered for me. Looking at the questioning expessions of the others made me feel like I had to say something.

"After an incident when I was a child," I decided incident was a better choice of words than 'series of experiments performed on me.' I refuse to give them a reason to pity me "I could no longer digest the proteins found in most, if not all, animal products."

"Well more for me then!" Fang announced cheerfully as she bit into and tore a large chunk off the slab of meat she had been holding out to me. I accidentally let out a disgusted groan as I turned away.

The next few days were rather interesting. It was painfully obvious that none of the l'Cie wanted to be anywhere near me, except for Fang because she was strangely determined to annoy me. Either that or she respected the fact that I was a much better fighter than her, from what I overheard about her life in _Oerba_, that was a distinct possibility.

Angeal had taken to teaching Snow more advanced martial arts, actually, not even advanced. Angeal was just teaching Snow how to even use martial arts. It pained me to watch Snow fight most of the time because it was clear that he had no idea how to fight properly. Aerith was helping Vanille and Hope learn better healing magic, and Zack had apparently taken it upon himself to teach Sazh some SOLDIER meditation techniques. Fang and Lightning were outside my field of vision at the moment talking about something and not one of the l'Cie were within twenty feet of me.

"Hey, Pretty Boy!"

Or so I thought.

"What do you want?" I asked flatly to the annoying woman.

"I remember you saying that I don't use my weapon properly. Care to give me some tips? Or are you afraid of getting your hair a little messy?" In the name of Gaia, Fang is irritating.

"Give me your spear so I can evaluate it."

When the double bladed red lance was in my hands, I wasted not one moment in finding out every unique trait it had. I learned its weight, balance, tricks, scratches, dents, and anything else I could find that would affect its aerodynamics. After that lengthy process, I checked for even the slightest bend in the shaft and when I saw that it was still straight and strong, I gave it a few practice twirls. Once I was accustomed to the lance, I carefully and slowly taught Fang several different fast spear moves and the basic stance they could be chained off of.

Fang and I sparred for a while once she knew how to mix together the moves I taught her. I will admit, Fang is a great student, not once did she make a joke or even crack a mischievous smile and she learned swiftly.

That night I volunteered to keep watch and after patrolling the outer area of Vallis Media, I went back to camp but stayed in the shadow of the cave that lead to the Archylte Steppe, as Fang and Vanille had called it. As I sat alone in the shadows, my enhanced hearing detected voices so I instinctively listened in on the conversation.

"Seems like you're having fun learning from that murderer," Lightning spat, referring to me.

"Yes, Sunshine. I am enjoying myself. You should try having fun sometimes, it might help get that stick outa yer arse," I could hear the smirk on Fang's face. Not to mention Lightning's growl.

"Whatever," Lightning tried to hide her irritation "Why do you insist on being so friendly to that monster?" she was obviously referring to me again.

"Because I can read people, Sunshine. Even wannabe statues like you and Pretty Boy."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"He spent his entire life completely alone, only gave into Jenova because she claimed to be his family. And I'm betting it's people like you that drove him to do what he did," That's the first time I heard such an insulting tone from Fang "Yet even after all of that, he is choosing to save a world he doesn't know in any way. See what I'm getting at Sunshine?"

"The heart of a hero but made a villain by society," Lghtning seems to have understood at least part of my story "He just needs a friend, someone he can trust..." Lightning's tone and the way she trailed off made me think she was actually talking about herself and it pained me to listen to it.

I felt something wet on my face and I wiped it off without a second thought. But when nothing else appeared I took off my glove and touched the wet spot. It was under my right eye and ran up to the edge of my eye. Was it... No it couldn't be... But the evidence is right there... Didn't think I had the ability to shed tears...

**I would have made it longer, but I didn't want to interrupt the emotional tone with a series of action scenes. Also I feel like I didn't do a very good job with the last bit, so if any of you have an idea or two to improve it, let me know. I want that part to be a masterpiece.**

**Also, I made Sephiroth a vegan because I thought he needed a quirk.**

**Please leave a review.**


	29. Chapter 29

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

Once everyone was awake, we decided as a group that we had spent enough time puttering around Vallis Media and wanted to continue. Our destination was Oerba, Fang and Vanille's home village but they told us it would be a long and difficult trip. The first area we had to cross was the Archylte Steppe, a sprawling plain that connected to many other regions.

The moment we set foot on the plain, I hated it. There was no shelter, barely any cover, and a lot of very hostile looking creatures. Not to mention the tremors running through the ground every ten or so seconds. I asked Vanille about it, because Fang was up with Sephiroth about twenty paces ahead of the rest of us, and the redhead pointed out Titan. I felt my breath catch and my heart stop for moment when I saw the mountainous fal'Cie and as long as he is way the hell over there, I feel marginally safer.

When we stopped for a break at about midday, I saw that Snow, Sazh and Hope had removed their coats but Sephiroth, Angeal, and Zack looked quite alright with this painfully hot weather. Makes me realize how much of Cocoon is controlled, even the weather is manipulated by the fal'Cie to help their... What was that word Sephiroth used? … Cattle, that was it. The fal'Cie of Cocoon manipulated the weather to help their cattle live better.

"How can you wear that?" Snow asked Sephiroth as he flopped down onto the grass.

"Midgar was in a very warm part of the world," Sephiroth explained.

"Don't forget the random storms," Angeal said with a chuckle.

"So we heard Sephiroth's story, what about yours?" Vanille asked Angeal.

"Yeah, tell us about Banora," Sazh slipped in.

Angeal started to tell us about his and Genesis' life in the small village and we continued on through the plains. Listening to Angeal's story made me fully realize just how different we all are, and yet, we all ended up here together. Almost like it was all destined to happen. We had only been walking for an hour when something completely unexpected happened.

Within minutes, the sky had clouded over and with a crack of thunder torrents it began to pour. As much as I hated rain, this was not bad. Annoying, but not bad. It was a wonderful relief from the heat and was pretty warm so we just trudged through it. As it got later in the day, the rain got colder and we started to look for some shelter. All we found was a small out cropping of rock of a demolished hill but it was far better than nothing. We got a fire going and Sephiroth taught us how to use our l'Cie magic to pull the water out of our clothes.

In the morning the sun was out and the awful heat was back. We continued on, dealing the occasional Gorgonopsid pack, as Fang called them, when they attacked us. Eventually we had to go through a canyon, which I really did not to go anywhere near. Fang and Vanille assured us that it was a river with a bridge across it when they lived in Oerba, but I guess things really do change over five hundred years. Since the bridge had undoubtedly collapsed a long time ago, we had to take an obscure and dangerous path down into the canyon. Zack sarcastically pointed out the creek that was still flowing in the very bottom of the canyon.

"So how do we get out?" Snow asked Fang when we reached the other side. I looked both directions and saw no obvious way out.

"We climb," Zack stated as if was it was painfully obvious.

"Or we use our Eidolons," Fang more than suggested.

"I already tried summoning Valkyrie," Aerith said.

"It didn't work?" Snow asked.

"No it worked perfectly, that's why Aerith is up there and not down here with us," Zack said with a laugh.

"Oh shut up, Zack," Snow replied with a laugh. I'm not surprised those two became friends so fast.

"This is no laughing matter," Sephiroth stated "If we can't summon the Eidolons, that means there is something powerful preventing it."

"Like a fal'Cie," Sazh commented.

"Let's look for a way out," Angeal said before starting to walk away.

"And stay on guard," I commanded. I've felt like I'm being watched the whole time we've down here.

We had only been walking for five minutes when we were stopped once again.

"Uh guys," Hope said to get our attention "I saw something over there. By that rock."

I started to walk over to the rock Hope pointed out but before I got too far away from the group something else happened.

"Look out!" Vanille shouted. I spun around just in time to see Sazh barely dodge a large black creature that kind of looked like a undead Gorgonopsid.

"Behind you!" Hope shouted at me. I threw myself to the side and saw another creature run past me but felt something tear into my side, then I saw the thing on the end of its tail and knew what had got me. I cast a cure spell and got to my feet.

In about twenty seconds, there was about fifteen of these creatures on us. They were amazingly fast and had surprising reflexes for beasts. Fang, Sephiroth, Angeal, Snow, Zack and myself were in a circle around the others.

"What are these things?" Snow shouted.

"I have no idea!" Fang shouted back.

One of the creatures charged at me and I flipped Blaze Edge into gun mode and took a shot. The shot would have tore right through the beasts skull but it just turned into black mist and the shot passed through it before it reformed into the beast and kept charging at me. I was stunned by what just happened which allowed the thing to knock me down and bite down onto my leg. I know I howled in pain and it started to drag me away.

A fire spell hit it but it just turned into the mist, which moved away, and when it reformed it rejoined the pack circling us. Strong hands lifted me onto my feet and I saw Angeal a moment later. He pretty much carried me back to the group and healed my leg.

As we rained bullets and spells onto the beasts, they just kept turning into the mist and reforming unharmed. Most of us started to take a beating from the weird mist beasts but Angeal, Zack and Sephiroth were fighting hard and had not been scratched yet.

A blue streak crossed my vision and I watched it slam into Angeal, who took flight and crashed through one of the rock pillars of the canyon. The hairs on my neck stood up and I ducked low just as a sword passed over me. I cartwheeled and came up with a slash but met nothing. Something slammed into my back but I was able to recover midair and land on my feet, and not a moment later I had to block a sword from taking my head off my shoulders.

The sword fight I had gotten into was easily the fastest I had ever been in, about as fast as Sephiroth but he had said he was holding back. I had no time to think, I was fighting on pure instinct and did not even know what I was fighting. All I know is I have to keep that sword away from me. My arms are starting to burn from how fast I have to move, my lungs hurt from breathing, my legs are killing me from walking so much today, and my back is bruised from that hit I took. So just like with Sephiroth, I lost. My opponent grabbed my coat and held his sword against my throat, after knocking my weapon out of my hand of course.

I took the chance to examine my opponent and first saw the silver hair and bright green eyes with slit pupils and one thing jumped into my mind. The part of Sephiroth's story about his Remnants, as he called them. I looked around and saw another silver haired man, he had short hair, standing over Angeal, Snow, and Fang, and another silver haired man with long hair, pointing a gun at Vanille, Aerith and Hope. That's when I noticed all three of them were left handed like Sephiroth and the black creatures were surrounding Sephiroth, Zack, and Sazh.

"I will admit that you all fight well," I looked towards the voice and saw Yaag Rosch, I was both shocked and not surprised "Release them," He commanded.

We were released and the black mist creatures turned into mist and vanished. The silver haired man that was close to me had an insane smile on his face and a look of madness in his eyes. Steel scraping steel got my attention and I saw Yaag slowly pulling his sword out of its sheath.

"Now Sephiroth, this will be a simple duel between you and I. I've always wanted to see you fight," Rosch said calmly. It was hard to not notice that Rosch's sword was drastically shorter than Sephiroth's.

After just a couple of minutes of insanely fast fighting, Rosch raised his hand to stop the fight.

"You truly are an amazing warrior, Sephiroth," Rosch slid his sword back into its sheath before talking again "Now unlike those three, I am reasonable. Give me the Black Materia and all of you will live."

"No," Sephiroth said calmly.

"One more warning. Give me the Black Materia or I kill these three," Rosch motioned to Aerith, Vanille, and Sazh.

"Three lives is better than millions," Sephiroth replied.

"What?" We all shouted back.

"Sephiroth, you have just killed three more innocent people," Rosch lifted his arm, to cast some magic I assume.

Out of nowhere a large red symbol with a lot of circles and writing appeared on the ground under all of us. The four silver haired men looked around before countless bolts of red lightning struck them. Right after the lighting, ice pelted them which exploded when they were hit, then a whirlwind of fire roared to life around us, only hitting the four men. When the fire died down, the four silver haired men were breathing heavy and looked like they had taken a beating. Rosch started to stand and those of us that could, started throwing healing spells to everyone.

"Leave now," Rosch commanded and the three from Sephiroth's story faded into black mist before vanishing completely. He drew his sword again and two black feathered wings erupted from his back "I don't know which of you did that, but now you all die."

What I can only describe as liquid darkness appeared at four points around Rosch and he looked at them with the confusion clear on his face.

~~~~Unknown POV~~~~

I had watched the battle from afar and could not let it continue. I summoned the darkness to four points around the silver haired man with wings. I drew my sword as I stepped into the opening by me and summoned my power to increase my speed. I commanded the darkness to open at threw myself at the man.

My sword tore through him as I passed him by at a blinding speed. I came out of the adjacent opening at the same speed and slashed him again. As I repeated the process time and time again, never coming out of the same opening twice in a row, the look of fear on the winged man grew more and more evident. The looks of confusion on the faces of Sephiroth and his companions faces were priceless. To end the attacks, I wrapped the darkness around the winged man and pulled him in while I was still inside it as well.

I forced all my power into me and felt myself change into the great steel form I had taken once before. I crushed him, slashed him, froze, electrified, burned, smashed, and threw him out of the darkness. I saw him vanish out of cowardice and let myself go back to my regular form.

Drawing my sword again, I rushed out of the darkness and right at Sephiroth. He blocked my slash, as I expected he would, and tried to counter attack. Easily, I dodged the slash and heard the Masamune sing through the air as it passed close to my face. Using my wing to propel myself around him I tried to take him down but he got away from it. Our blades sang through the air for several minutes but I eventually emerged victorious. Sephiroth was laying on the ground, Masamune under my boot, and Rapier pointed at his throat.

"Finally I beat you," I chuckled at him "Granted I have the unfair advantage of Jenova cells, Mako enhancement, my original cells, and your cells."

"Genesis?" Sephiroth whispered as he looked me up and down. I guess my current appearance is a bit of a surprise.

"Is it really you?" Angeal asked slowly as he walked towards me.

I had a suspicion that simple words would not be enough so I pulled my copy of LOVELESS out of my coat, let it fall open to the page with my beloved poem, and took out the photograph that was my bookmark. The photograph is the only picture with Sephiroth, Angeal and myself. It was taken about a month before Angeal took Zack under his wing. Carefully I handed the creased, and lightly damaged picture to Angeal and a moment after examining the picture, he threw his arms around me. After a few, rather uncomfortable, seconds Angeal let me go and gave back the photo, which I replaced in my book and slipped it back into my coat.

"What happened to you?" Angeal asked me again, while obviously examining my outfit.

"Deepground," I answered plain and simple.

"Deepground?" Sephiroth shot back "The medical division of SOLDIER?"

"Allow me to explain," So I started to explain what Deepground really was and what it became. I also let them know about what happened a year after Sephiroth's 'rebirth' in the Midgar ruins "Which reminds me," I made a small spot of darkness appear and forced it to slowly slide out the Buster Sword.

"Is that..." Angeal was stunned.

"There was only ever one, Angeal," I handed him the massive sword, handle first and the looks on the strangers faces were mildly amusing. My dark haired friend carefully looked over the blade several times, sliding his hand over it to check for any damage "I retrieved it before the battle between Deepground and the WRO. Sadly your church and memorial were demolished in the battle," I told the women in the pink dress.

"Genesis... How are you here?" the Puppy asked me "All of us were brought here by the lifestream because we were dead."

"After you defeated me in the Banora caves, Pup, I met an amazing being."

"Who?" The short red head girl asked me with intrigue.

"Lady Minerva, the goddess spoken of in LOVELESS," I made sure to pay the utmost respect when stating her name.

"Minerva? Don't sound that special," The women in blue chuckled and I shot a glare at her, stopping that insulting tone.

"Lady Minerva is Gran Pulse, she is Gaia, she is the lifestream, the source of and the return point of all life."

"That doesn't explain how you got here," Sephiroth rudely stated.

"She brought me here just as she brought all of you," I was indicating Sephiroth, Angeal, Aerith, and the Pup.

"But why?" Angeal asked but by his tone, I could tell he had a hunch and was thinking he was right.

"As you all most likely guessed by those that attacked you, Jenova is on Cocoon," most of them looked taken aback.

"You serious?" the dark skinned man shouted.

"Indeed. The Jenova on Gaia was all that was left of that body, or host really."

"What do you mean host?" The dark skinned man asked me.

"I mean that was not her. She possessed and changed it which she could do to anyone if she so desired. In fact, those brands are the one thing that is protecting you from Jenova's influence."

"How do you know that?" The woman in blue asked me. So instead of explaining things again, I undid the leather straps holding my jacket closed, slipped it off my shoulders, and pulled my dark shirt off my left shoulder, revealing to them the white mark of Minerva, which I just noticed was on the woman in blue's right shoulder.

"This is the mark of Minerva, the emblem of the lifestream guardians, defenders of the world."

~~~~Jenova's POV~~~~

I let go of Yaag and he crumpled to the floor and took several deep breaths. Crushing his throat would have been easy, along with any other form of death I could imagine for him but death in any from would be too merciful for him. He boldly got to his feet and dared to look me in the eye as he straightened his uniform.

"Now, tell me why you failed," I politely commanded.

"We were ambushed by Genesis," As hard as he tried to hide it, I could tell he was afraid of what I might do next.

"Genesis defeated you? He has nowhere near the potential of Sephiroth."

"I am not sure, mother. Somehow he has much more power than before, but I highly doubt he even begins to rival you," Yaag is trying to flatter me to lessen his punishment, how cute.

"You're right. It was wrong of me to send my pathetic sons to accomplish such an simple task. Keep things under control here, I'm going to finish the mission you failed. Then I will deal with all of you," When I looked between Yaag, Yazoo, Loz, and Kadaj, they flinched, which is a good thing. They know better than to act tough with me.

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

It took a while but Genesis convinced us to use his darkness, as he called, to get out of the canyon. As we were going through it, I could hear voices, lots of voices, and they sounded like they were suffering. I wanted to get out the darkness as fast as I could and when we were out, Genesis told us we were only in there for a few moments. The Cocoon people looked just as surprised as me at hearing that.

"So tell me about these, Tsviets," Sephiroth told Genesis as he waited for the rest of us to recover from that darkness.

"There were five of them. The headed Deepground and were as dangerous, if not more, as us when we worked for Shinra," Angeal stood up as Genesis spoke.

"Really now?" Angeal said, I could tell he didn't believe Genesis.

Genesis told us about the Tsviets, how they were made, and a bunch of other stuff that was just scary. I focused on the beautiful world around us and tried my hardest to tune out Genesis. We ran into some creatures, and some ran into us, but nothing was difficult with so many powerful people. Eventually we stopped and started trying to decide on a place to make camp.

"What's that?" Vanille asked all of us. She was looking up at Cocoon so I turned around to look at it as well and saw a light blinking and was getting bigger.

I heard weapons getting ready so I charged a fire spell just to be sure. The light seemed to be closer really fast and I was getting nervous. The ground suddenly trembled but no else seemed to have noticed it and I started to hear panicked voices. I knew exactly what was coming and I really wanted to run.

"We need to go!" I shouted at everyone, making most of them turn to me.

"No use," Genesis calmly said back "She already knows where we are."

The light slammed into the ground in front of us and the ground shaking made me fall down. Vanille helped me up and I saw right there where the light landed was Jenova in her disguise. Even though the ground was cracked and broken and there was a whole bunch of dust in the air, Jenova was still perfectly clean. The smile she had on her face was a whole new kind of evil in my opinion.

"Nabaat?" Sazh was surprised, again. Jenova chuckled softly.

"You could say that. But I prefer my Cetra name, Jenova," Her hair straightened out and turned silver, her eyes turned bright red, her skin became very pale, and her six black feathered wings appeared.

"Wow, you two really are related," Fang joked at Sephiroth. Jenova sent a glare at her but didn't do anything, surprisingly.

"Odin!" Lightning shouted. I watched her throw her Eidolith into the air but it suddenly flew over to Jenova and she looked at the crystal.

"I won't have anything like that from you," Jenova said with a smile as she dropped the crystal beside her. And then she just wasn't there anymore.

An explosion in the middle of our group threw us all to the ground, injuring most, possibly, all of us. I sat up and saw Jenova in the middle of us, standing over Sephiroth and Genesis. I wanted to use a healing spell but I could not get the magic to work, as if Jenova had blocked it somehow.

"Know what's funny, Sephiroth?" I think I heard Sephiroth growl at Jenova "Aerith knew I was here the whole time. She is a Cetra after all," She laughed as she walked away from Sephiroth, to Hope "Hope, I was hoping you were okay," that was a confusing thing to hear "You know, once this is all over and done with, you will be the greatest of my children," What? Hope is another one of her children? No, that's not true. Jenova is a liar "All of this, the purge, the branding, your _mother_ dying, Cocoon itself, all carefully designed and planned, by me, to ensure my perfect son could grow up to be a very powerful being, just like me."

"What?" Hope asked in disbelief.

"I handcrafted you from the DNA of Sephiroth, Angeal, Genesis, and myself. You have all of their strengths, none of their weaknesses, a mind as strong as mine, and power within the same borders as mine," Jenova actually looked like she was being honest, which scared me.

"Don't listen to her! She's a liar!" Zack shouted. I saw Jenova's eyes flash red and Zack screamed in pain.

"I didn't ask you to speak, Zack."

Sephiroth and Genesis stood up behind Jenova and got ready to attack. Sephiroth put his hand on the guard of his sword and pulled out the Black Materia, Jenova spun around the moment it was free. Sephiroth tossed it to Genesis just as Jenova lunged at him. Jenova's hand landed on Sephiroth's head and Genesis pushed the materia into his arm. For some reason, Sephiroth fell to the ground without doing anything and strange symbols appeared around Genesis' left arm. Jenova lunged at him and a giant black beam, came out of Genesis' arm. When the black beam went away, Jenova was gone and I felt my magic rush back into me and I wasn't so sore. So I got back to my feet, everyone else did the same.

"That was a good idea Sephiroth," Genesis said cheerfully as he pulled the black materia out of his arm "Sephiroth?" we all saw Sephiroth still lying on the ground, barely moving "Sephiroth!" Genesis bent down to him and rolled him onto his back.

I got closer to Sephiroth and saw that his eyes were wide open and gray instead of bright green. Vanille, Angeal, and me started to cast every kind of healing spell we knew and look all over him for an injury. A long time later, could have been anywhere between five and thirty minutes, later we agreed on something.

"He is perfectly fine," Angeal said in a depressed way.

"What? Look at his eyes! That is not healthy!" Fang shouted.

"Physically, there is nothing wrong," Angeal replied calmly.

"Jenova attacked his mind," Genesis commented "She knows it would be pointless to attack his body because of our healers, so she attacked the truly dangerous part of him. His seemingly invincible mind."

"What do we do to help him?" Lightning asked, she sounded... odd.

"I haven't the slightest idea if there is anything that can be done," Genesis responded.

"Do any of you think it's true?" Hope asked, he was really close to but behind me so I jumped when he said that "What Jenova said about me."

"Hope," Angeal went over to him, bent to one knee and put a hand on his shoulder "Jenova is a liar. If she didn't enjoy causing misery so much, she would have killed us all the moment she appeared."

"That's not what I asked, Angeal," Hope sounded ready to cry "What if it is true? None of you would know then. Did all those people die because of me?" Hope started to cry "I'm the reason my mom died? That all of you were made l'Cie? All of this is my fault. I'm a monster like the rest of them," I saw Hope's l'Cie brand start to glow and Angeal started to move back because he saw it too.

"Hey now," Genesis sounded offended. Obviously he couldn't see Hope's glowing brand because Angeal was in his way.

"Fang, go move Sephiroth," Lightning commanded.

Huge white symbols appeared around Hope and an instant later, a massive robotic thing was standing there. It was gold and white, had a crown, its arms and chest were gigantic, and compared to the rest of it, it's legs were very small. This looked like it would be a very hard battle. On the bright side, Hope's Eidolon will be very strong.

**Wow, a lot happened in that chapter. Next chapter will be very interesting though, so sit tight.**

**Not much else to say other than, let me know about any errors, if you have any questions, and most of all, please leave a review.**


	30. Chapter 30

~~~~Jenova's POV~~~~

Watching the skin on my hand weave itself back around the muscle was entrancing. I was aware of my four sons standing in front of me with their heads down, awaiting their punishment for failure but I can't punish them. Not when I also failed in the mission to obtain the Black Materia. Because of that, I have a new idea.

"Yaag?"

"Yes, Mother?" The fear in his voice was beautiful.

"Gather PSICOM, the Cavalry have something I want."

"Right away, Mother. But if I may, what is it you are after?" My glare made Yaag seal his lips and begin to leave to gather his troops.

Now, to resume work on those weapons of mine. If all else fails, I can rely on these to end those l'Cie.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

The fight with Alexander, which Hope told us was his Eidolon's name, had been very difficult. The giant was impossible to taunt, stagger, or even get to move. It just stood in one place and launched magic at us but tried to punch us when we got close. For a massive bulky thing, it could swing it's fists quite fast. We finally did beat the damn thing and before I fully realized that, Hope's arms were wrapped around me and he was bawling.

He was rambling on about something, probably about what Jenova had said, but because of his sobbing everything he was saying was just random gibberish. I sat with him and let him cry on my shoulder for several minutes. I had to employ some techniques from when I took care of Serah and as I rubbed Hope's back and whispered some gentle words to him, I felt tears start to well up as I was hit hard by how much I miss Serah. Fang was sitting with Vanille, talking quietly about something, Snow and Sazh were off to the side, Aerith and Zack were also talking about something, and Angeal and Genesis were kneeling by Sephiroth.

Oh shit! Sephiroth! Can't believe I forgot that he was taken down by Jenova!

In a moment, I was kneeling by Sephiroth, just to the left of Genesis, and examining the silver haired man faster than I think I should have. The hairs on my neck stood up and I looked around to see if anyone was looking at me but after that I noticed the air around Genesis' left arm was hazy and what looked like a black hole in his arm. That's when I remembered the black beam that had destroyed Jenova. Genesis let out a sigh and stood up. He took a couple of steps away from us, pulled the materia out of his arm and tossed it to Angeal.

"You can't do anything?" Angeal asked, his worried tone physically hurt. Serah used a tone like that every time I came home hurt in any way.

"Maybe if I had the White Materia," Genesis' reply sounded like a cover for: Sephiroth is dead.

"You mean Holy?" Aerith's sad tone also hurt. It was just painful to hear her be sad. Not sure why though.

"Could there be another way?" My curiosity got the best of me, which is why I asked. I also held my hand out towards Angeal, a wordless way to ask to take a look at the Black Materia. Angeal carefully put it in my hand, I was expecting something similar to what happened to Snow to happen to me but nothing happened.

"Well if there was a way inside his mind, there could be a way to fix the damage," Genesis said with a light shrug "Unfortunately, Sephiroth is on his own in there."

Just holding the Black Materia was overwhelming. I could feel a rush of energy through my body and it just kept getting bigger. It suddenly felt like I could run for miles, cast hundreds of spells without getting worn out, or take on everyone in a fistfight. Out of nowhere came visions of amazing power, walls of fire, avalanches, hurricanes, earthquakes, massive electrical storms, volcanoes, and even meteors, all of which were spells cast by me. It was a frightening, yet wonderful thing to see. To think that power like that is inside such a little orb...

All at once it was gone. The visions, the rush of energy, and my thoughts of taking the Black Materia and destroying the entire Sanctum. In it's place was nothing at all and I felt my awareness of the world slowly slide back. I stood up and walked a few paces away from Sephiroth and kept staring at the small black orb. Well it wasn't that small, it was about the size of my fist but still tiny compared to the power it held.

Okay Lighting think. How can we help Sephiroth? The damage is in his mind so we need some way to know what's wrong. If only I could see the damage... That rush of power is back, why is that?

~~~~Fang's POV~~~~

It is hard to see Pretty Boy layin' on the ground. He was easily the strongest of us but now he's basically dead. I know I should not be thinkin' like that, but hat can we do? If Genesis is right, which he probably is, there's nothin' left of Pretty Boy now. Just an unusually good looking body.

I will admit that is one of the weirder thoughts that has crossed my mind.

"Do you think he will be okay?" Vanille asked me, she was looking over to Hope who was just watching the others.

"The kid is strong. He will be fine."

"I know Hope will be fine. I meant Sephiroth, Fang."

"Oh. Well he did tell us, along with Genesis, that his mind was the strongest part of him. I'm sure he will be okay. May take a little while, but he will be back to ordering us around in no time."

I watched Sunshine stand up and walk away from Pretty Boy and... I need to think of something for Angeal... anyways, Sunshine was starin' at that Black Materia as if it would suddenly outright tell her something. The thing started to glow and I can feel my eyebrows moving into a curious look, then a flash and Sunshine just fell to the ground without trying to stop herself at all.

"Lightning!" I heard Van shout, which easily grabbed the attention of the others.

I was the first to her side and noticed something far weirder than what I'm used to. The Black Materia is gone but there is a like a black or really dark... I dunno, blue or purple aura around Sunshine. Genesis was there next and he looked confused, angry, and impressed.

"Genesis, what's going on?" Angeal asked from behind Genesis.

"Somehow, Lightning is using the Black Materia."

"But I thought-"

"So did I, Angeal."

"Mind telling us what you're on about?" I snapped at them. I didn't mean to sound so mean.

"The Black Materia is a unique Materia, it basically feeds off the user to trigger it's own power," Genesis explained to us "The ultimate destructive force is also a parasite, who would've guessed? Real question though, what's she using it for?"

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

I forced my eyes open and shot to my feet as soon as I felt aware of my surroundings. A quick look around told me absolutely nothing. I was standing on cobblestone in an area that was well lit until about fifteen feet away from me, after that it was pitch black. I scanned the ground for my shadow hoping to find the source of light but I had no shadow, I looked straight up and saw nothing but darkness.

"Hello?" I felt myself call out but nothing came back, not even an echo which was just creepy "Anyone?" I called out again through no will of my own.

The hairs on my neck stood up and I quickly turned. A giant blue glow was there, it reminded of looking into the sun, just not as blinding and as odd as it sounds, it feels like it is glaring at me. I barely saw a giant... Well it's kind of like a skeletal hand made of smoke, but doesn't matter what it looks like when every instinct told me to turn and run, so I followed those orders.

The light on the ground followed me as I ran as fast I could. Each time I looked over my shoulder, the giant blue light was just as big as before and the hand was gaining on me. A feeling in my arm made me look to my right and I saw four large fingers made of smoke starting to curl towards me. Just before the smokey skeletal hand could grab me, I fell... like I ran straight off a cliff.

Instead of slamming into some ground, the world just kind of... faded into existance. Looking around told me nothing but after a few seconds someone appeared in front of me. It was a child, no more than five, wearing generic child's clothing, and they had short platinum-blond – no... Silver hair. After he, I assume it was a he because of the short hair, grabbed something off the ground, he turned and sat down. He had a handful of rocks and started to study them intently, throwing some of them away.

"So this is what years of research have yielded?" a nasally and relatively high voice said from behind me. I saw a slender man in a lab coat, a dress shirt, black tie, brown belt, gray pants and shoes, round glasses and long black hair in a pony tail.

"Yes, sir," A man in a buttoned up lab coat, black shirt, brown pants, black shoes, square glasses, a mustache, and short brown hair, that suddenly appeared next to the first said "But we were to expect that from Hollander's work on Project G."

"True, but Project S will be infinitely better than G. Sephiroth has the greatest of Jenova's abilities, and with it, he will become the ultimate soldier."

"What?" The brown haired scientist or doctor sounded confused "a soldier?"

"You're right, Gast. The army isn't good enough. We need something new... It's time we make use of S' data and follow Shinra's tradition with any new weapon," The black haired man spun on his heel and I watched him fade into the distance, with the other man on his heels a few moments later.

Turning back to the child, who was now busy pulling a flower apart petal by petal and humming some random tune to himself. Either I didn't notice Sephiroth, or he suddenly appeared, but he was standing in front of the toddler version of himself. I walked up beside him but he was oblivious to me... I think...

"I don't understand..." Sephiroth muttered "How can something so small and innocent become... A monster?" He sounded hurt, something brand new to hear from him.

"Sephiroth..." I heard myself say gently.

"Who looks at a child and sees only what will further they're career? See a weapon to be developed? How can humans be so cruel to their own kind?"

I looked back down at the child, the toddler Sephiroth, who looked very happy to be sitting there in the grass, pulling a flower apart. When I looked back up, Sephiroth was gone. Looking down, the toddler was gone, then the ground faded into the cobblestone, and the world around me faded into the darkness. I felt something glaring at me and just started sprinting.

A shoulder check told me the blue light was back as well as the skeleton smoke hand. Except this time, it was a bit faster. Every now and again it would try to grab me but it was ridiculously easy to dodge. When it started to feel like I had been running for a few hours, but I wasn't tired oddly enough, I looked around for safety and saw a door in the distance. Dodging the hand the whole way there was easy, the distance between me and the door had been triple what it looked like though.

The mysterious door slid open as I got close to it and once I was through it, it was instantly closed and I was in a very different place. There was a ton of very scientific and expensive looking machines around the room that had sterile white walls, just like a hospital. I shudder at the thought and keep looking around as more things begin to appear. A hospital bed, people, doctors – no – scientists, the brown haired scientist from before, and a silver haired, green eyed child. About ten years old.

The child Sephiroth was following the brown haired scientist, Gast I think was the name, around like an obedient puppy. He was asking the older man questions about everything. What he was doing, using, writing, and why he was doing what he was, using whatever machine they were at, and why he had write so much. If I were 'Gast' I would have flipped but the man always answered with a bright smile. He must have really cared about Sephiroth, or just liked children. I couldn't help but notice how all the other scientists went out of their way to avoid Sephiroth. The door I came in through hissed open and the black haired scientist walked in with two soldiers at his sides. He walked right up to Gast and tapped his shoulder.

"Yes, Hojo?" Gast asked calmly.

"I've transferred you too the Cetra research department," There was a sinister smile on Hojo's face and a tone of victory in his voice.

"What! Why?" Gast was obviously outraged.

"Because you're influence on the specimen is going to contaminate the results and render the years of research and millions of gil a complete waste."

"I'm going to ruin the project by treating him like one of us?" Gast was almost shouting at Hojo.

"_That,_" Hojo nearly jabbed Sephiroth in the forehead when he pointed at him "Is the specimen. The entire project is for testing it's capabilities. We can't have you teaching it to be a pacifist."

"Him!" Gast shouted. Hojo calmly pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Pack your stuff. You are being sent to Icicle Inn tomorrow," Hojo started to walk out of the room but right at the door he stopped "Just be glad I went to the president and didn't deal with you like that brat in Nibelheim that tried interfering," With a quiet laugh, that was filled with madness, Hojo left and the door slid shut.

"Will you be gone long?" I heard a young boy ask. I turn back to Sephiroth and Gast.

"A while, Sephiroth," Gast was staring at the door with a distant look. He looked down at Sephiroth with another bright smile "But don't worry. I'll see you again," Gast put a hand on Sephiroth's shoulder "I promise. Just make sure to be a good boy while I'm gone, okay?" Sephiroth gave Gast a bright childish smile and hugged him, which obviously surprised Gast, who just chuckled and patted little Sephiroth's back. Just as a tear rolled down Gast's face, everything but the man and the boy vanished and Sephiroth appeared.

"I should have known he wouldn't come back," Sephiroth's words were filled with venom.

"How could you? You were just a child," I pointed out, hoping that he would hear me and understand.

"Why did I think he would come back? Nothing about the way he was acting said he would see me again. Why did he so easily obey Shinra? Didn't he know they were just going to kill him anyways?" Sephiroth turned on his heel and marched away from the two figures and within an instant, the darkness was back.

After another time of evading the skeleton hand made of smoke, which was faster than before, making me actually try to avoid it, another scene happened. For some reason, it took until this one to realize I was seeing memories, the parts of his own story he left out, the parts Sephiroth wanted to forget.

This memory was very different from the other two. There was Sephiroth, same as before, on a chair on one side of a door, that was open just a crack, a segment of wall containing the door, and Hojo and someone else on the other side of the door. There only white fog around the five by ten foot area. It took me a moment, but I figured out this memory was like this because Sephiroth had been concentrating on what the two were saying.

"So what's this _news_ you want to tell me?" Hojo sounded more than a little suspicous.

"There is a lot of activity in his brain," the other man said, he was very non-descript, as if he were mass produced in a factory. Sephiroth must not have payed much attention to him.

"I'm no neuro-specialist, doctor. I have no idea what that means," Hojo said in an amused tone.

"There is more and faster activity in his brain than anything I have seen. That includes people like us, Professor. There is also that kind of activity in more areas of his brain," The doctor sounded amazed, maybe even scared.

"Now what does that mean?" Hojo was interested.

"He is most likely smarter, faster thinking, and has a better memory than anyone on the planet. Who knows what else he can do with that brain?"

"It would be nice to study it, wouldn't it?"

"That's beside the point, Hojo. My point is, he is something people like us have only dreamed of seeing or studying. He could either be the next step of our evolution, a few steps ahead, or an entirely new, and superior, species."

"That's where you're almost right. He was created from the cells of a creature we extracted from a rock layer a couple thousand years old."

"Then you better go back to studying whatever it is you found," the doctor's tone was almost ominous.

"That's when I knew my existence was unique, special, important," Sephiroth was suddenly beside me and it made me jump slightly "Why did I think and even hope that because of that discovery, they would bring Gast back? Why did I think that after this, Hojo would send me to school and let me live like a normal child?"

"Are we inside your mind?" I asked out of nowhere.

But he was gone again.

Once again, the darkness came. Once again, I had to dodge the hand. Once again, it got a bit more difficult. But what did it matter? I didn't get tired or hungry or thirsty in here... Where ever here is... So I just kept on moving forward. Like clockwork, I was in another memory before long.

This one started with Sephiroth, maybe about ten or twelve, laying on some grassy field. His hair was a bit longer than the last few memories and he was wearing a purple version of Angeal's clothes. A man with short dark brown hair, and identical clothes to Angeal, materialized near Sephiroth and lifted him to his feet. The two of them went through some martial arts training and started to spar. But that quickly went from them sparring to the older man just mercilessly beating Sephiroth. After several minutes of the beating, the memory became hazy and the man kicked Sephiroth about five feet away from him. The grass field vanished and we were in a metal room. A hidden door opened a moment later and in walked a blond man, with a mustache, and a suit. He looked between Sephiroth and the man.

"How is the training going?" The blond man asked.

"Badly, mister Shinra," The dark haired man replied "The boy has no fighting spirit, and frankly, isn't worth my damn time or effort."

"You aren't worth what I'm paying you and less than a decimal of what was spent on that boy and this virtual environment room for his training," Shinra quickly said back "There is far too much invested in this for you to just back out."

"How am I supposed to teach him to fight when he refuses to be aggressive?" The dark haired man was just about shouting at Shinra.

"That is your job so figure it out!" Shinra shouted back before leaving. The dark haired man glared at the door for a moment before walking over to Sephiroth.

"Get up," he growled down to Sephiroth "Get up!"

Sephiroth slowly got to his feet and the beating from earlier started again. The memory progressed until Sephiroth was sent to the ground again and the older man ordered him to get up again. I don't know why, but I called out for him to not listen to the man and then the present Sephiroth appeared again.

"What would have been different if I always refused to get up? Would I have been forced to become a warrior or abandoned by Shinra? What would have been different if I refused to listen to that man?"

The darkness came again and I started to run before I saw a hand or felt that blue glare. Relying on my instincts to detect the hand, I was dodging it before I was aware that it was near me. Before I knew it, I was dodging again, far too soon for it to be the first hand. Just as I suspected, there is two hands now, double the fun. One of them got really close to me, it's fingers anyways, and I felt my side start to get wet. It must of cut me or something.

~~~~Fang's POV~~~~

We lay Sunshine next to Pretty Boy, just because it would be easier to protect them that way. It had only been about an hour or so since Sunshine fell unconscious and I volunteered to watch over them while Genny, Muscle Head, and Angel (that's not a very good name... I'll come up with something better once Pretty Boy and Sunshine are back with us) went to get something for dinner.

Sunshine looked far more peaceful than ever before. Looked like she was simply asleep. Pretty Boy almost looked the same. I looked over my shoulder to see if any of the others were looking over here, which they aren't, so I grabbed a handful of Pretty Boy's hair. It was... soft, silky like my sari, and obviously well cared for. Perfect. Just like every other one of his features. I put his hair back and looked him over again but something on Sunshine caught my eye. Focusing on it, it was a growing red spot on her coat. I pulled it back and saw one long cut on her side, bleeding rather badly.

"Vanille! Aerith!" they were right behind me, along with Hope, Zack, and Sazh.

"What?" Vanille asked.

"Sunshine's bleedin'! Heal her!"

"Oh!" Vanille shouted before her, Aerith, and Hope healed Sunshine.

"How did she start bleeding?" Zack asked me.

"I have no idea," I really didn't. What in the name of Etro is going on?

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

The next memories I encountered hit me like a speeding train. They flew by me at an amazing pace, I was only able to catch a glimpse of each one. They were all about Sephiroth, at the same age, I'm guessing, as the last memory, but he was getting injected with something then being tested. I have no idea how many of these memories flew by but one was at the regular pace. It had Sephiroth sitting on that same hospital bed as an earlier memory, another nondescript doctor (or scientist) and Hojo off to one side of the room.

"Professor," the doctor/scientist started quietly "We've done the tests four times. There is no trace of the virus' or anything else that he was given."

"So he's immune. Intriguing," Hojo replied.

"To everything, sir. From the common cold to the AIDS virus. Even lethal amounts of every drug on the market. Pharmaceutical and illegal."

"Have you tried taking a sample of his blood?" Hojo asked, clearly insulting the other man.

"Yes, sir. But when we add a disease to the sample, nothing happens."

"Nothing?"

"Yes, the white blood cells don't react in anyway to the presence of the harmful cells."

"So he is immune to every ailment on the planet but we can't use him to create medicines. What a wonderful twist of fate," Hojo and the man stood silently for a long moment "What about his x-rays?"

"Nothing to report, why?"

"No fractures or cracks?" The man shook his head "Not even hairline?"

"Nope, his bones are perfectly fine. Why?"

"Let's just say there is a good reason to believe he should have a broken bone or two," Hojo was nearly laughing as he said that. I truly hated that man.

The darkness came again and so did the hands and blue glare. It was getting difficult to dodge them now. A couple times they got really close, and cut me, but the cuts went away pretty fast. I guess wounds are meaningless in this place.

As more of the memories came and went, a lot of them highly traumatic, I stopped paying attention for my own mental health, really. I can't believe how terrible Sephiroth's life really was. I guess that's why he just skimmed over this part of his life when he told us his story. One memory that did catch my attention was when Sephiroth looked to be about fifteen or sixteen.

He was brought into a lab with a creature that was very similar to the behemoths we've seen. They were hooked up to a transfusion machine, looked different from the ones on Cocoon but there was enough similarities, the blood from the behemoth was being pumped into the machine and being mixed into Sephiroth's blood. After a few minutes, Sephiroth jumped up from the bed he had been on and punched the machine. The machine was obliterated and the blood that was running through it splattered everywhere. The behemoth roared at Sephiroth, he growled back, jumped on it's back, grabbed its head, and broke its neck. Next moment, the door opened and guards rushed in. Sephiroth fought them, sending across the room, smashing just about everything in the room. He grabbed one and threw him through the window of the room. Six more guards rushed in and were able to restrain Sephiroth, which was surprising. I saw Hojo on the other side of the smashed window and was just able to hear what he said.

"Enjoy the strength and rage, Sephiroth. It's the first of many traits I'm going to give you," Hojo gave that weird smile of his and Sephiroth looked right at him, some kind of primal blood lust in his eyes.

I took a hit from one of the hands the moment the darkness came again, but the wounds I received were gone within moments. The next series of memories were Sephiroth having the blood of all sorts of creatures combined with his, then a display of what trait he had absorbed.

The terrible memories continued up until around the time Sephiroth met Angeal and Genesis, I assumed from what I remembered about his story. After that, the next bad memory wasn't until Sephiroth heard of Angeal's reported death at Zack's hands. The next memory was when Sephiroth and Genesis talked inside the Reactor near that town I can't recall the name of. That memory continued to Sephiroth going to the basement of that mansion and reading every book on the shelves. When Sephiroth was reading the books, everything but the book became blurred and it played through in fast-forward. The week shot by in just a few minutes but when Sephiroth finished the last book, it went back to normal. He dropped the book on the floor and just stared down at it for a long while.

"I'm a monster..." he whispered "Gast, why didn't you tell me any of this?"

All of a sudden the memory went black. I sensed something behind me, which wasn't one of those hands, and what it was surprised me. It was toddler Sephiroth. Standing not that far away looking right at me. I walked up to him and he kept his eyes on me, not blinking at all which is really creepy.

"Where's my mommy?" he asked me with a slur that is unique to toddlers.

"I..." I tried to answer but Sephiroth never said anything about his real mother. His memories were also unhelpful with that answer.

"Is she dead?"

"I don't know. I bet she is alive, though," I forced a smile for the toddler but he looked away.

"Then she leaved me. 'Cause I'm different. 'Cause I'm a freak," his response horrified me and the sadness in it almost had me in tears. Just before I could respond, he was gone.

Behind me was the child version of Sephiroth. Again, just standing there staring at me. I walked up to him, making sure my pace was steady and my stance was strong. The last encounter let me know that I am talking to Sephiroth and most likely answering the questions that have haunted him... I think...

"Why did they work so had to make me sad for my whole life?"

"They were afraid of you and your potential," I answered quickly, hoping that was right.

"So they knew I was a monster before I was born."

"You're not a monster, Sephiroth."

"I'm the child of the mother of all monsters," With that, child Sephiroth was gone. Not sure if I failed or there will be no winning with Sephiroth.

Next was teenage Sephiroth.

"Why was fate so cruel to me?"

"There is no such thing as fate," I said in my commanding tone.

"So it was random chance that I was infected with Jenova cells when I was an embryo?" There was anger in teenage Sephiroth's eyes.

"That's not what I meant."

"Even if fate is a lie, my life was predetermined."

That version disappearing gave me my answer. No matter what I say, I will lose the little debate. Next version is young adult.

"Why did I let people control me?"

I have no answer for him. I really don't know what to say to that.

"I was simply too afraid to stand up for myself."

Now the adult Sephiroth.

"Why did I give in to Jenova without a second thought?"

"You were alone for most your life." I answered, hoping that I was right, for some reason.

"She was the first person to speak to me as if I was family. She made me feel welcome."

Next is Sephiroth stripped to the waist and a single large black feathered wing on his right side.

"Why did I resist Jenova at the last moment and release Holy?"

"You thought of Gast's last words to you," I just said the first thing that came to mind.

"I listened to the only man I viewed as family and betray the only being that treated me as family. I'm always alone in the end."

Now the Sephiroth before the present one.

"Why did I cause so much misery just to fight Cloud again?"

"Jenova was still using you."

"Maybe. Maybe, I was testing him," That was the strangest response. Not nearly as sad sounding as the others. It was almost cheerful.

And now, the present Sephiroth.

"Why was I given a second chance?" I knew this answer.

"You have the heart of a hero. And you're the only one that can kill Jenova."

"How can I kill Jenova when I fear her more than anything?"

"You know her weakness. You know how she thinks and fights. She is afraid of you."

"I hope you're right."

After he vanished, I took a look around at the realm of nothing. I started thinking of how I was going to escape but then I heard something.

"Well done, Lightning," The voice was deep, smooth, bone chilling, eerie, fear inducing, but distinctly Sephiroth's.

I turned to it and saw, well, Sephiroth but the a few differences. His clothes were white with black detail instead of black with white, his pauldrons were black steel, and his hair was black. The most striking part though, his eyes. One was glowing blue, like Angeal, Zack, and Genesis, and the other was bright red. Just like Jenova. He had the same black wing, though.

"And what are you?" I asked, trying to sound calm and not terrified.

"I am the wind of death, a monument to despair, hatred incarnate. I am the One Winged Angel."

The skeletal hands made of smoke appeared and that's when I realized what had been after me the whole time. In an instant, the hands were closing around me but I was just able to slip mostly out of their grasp, they caught my arm and clawed it pretty badly but the wounds will be gone soon. Once they were, I charged at the One Winged Angel with Blaze Edge drawn, thinking that if I beat him, I would be let out of this place.

~~~~Fang's POV~~~~

"How long has this been going on?" Genny asked me.

"Ten, twenty minutes," I said back to him.

"Any ideas?" Puppy asked Angeal.

"None," Angeal replied. I will think of a nickname for him, I swear it. What'cha doin' Fang? Not appropriate thoughts for the situation.

"I have a theory," Genny announced softly.

"That would be?" Afro asked him, just as annoyed as me that Genny hadn't just told us.

"I tried to determine what purpose Lightning is using the Black Materia for. All I can tell is, it's power is flowing through Lightning and into Sephiroth."

"That's your theory?" Muscle head asked, rather upset by Genny's words.

"I'm getting to it. If I'm correct, Lightning has somehow projected her consciousness into Sephiroth's mind and the wounds are being caused by something sinister in there."

"Jenova put something nasty in Sephiroth's head?" Afro asked Genny, obviously not believing this. I didn't either.

"I doubt she put something there. It's more likely she unleashed something. A particularly terrible memory, possibly," Genny answered.

"So Light has to fight off a bad memory," the Kid stated to no one specific.

"How hard can that be?" I asked, mostly as a joke.

"There are a number of horrific memories in Sephiroth. And Lightning is on their board, using their pieces, and bound by their rules."

"So fairly difficult?" I asked, again, as a joke.

"It's either Lightning is in serious danger, or she has very little chance of coming out of this alive. But that's if I am right about what's going on," Genny sat on the grass next to Lightning, a rather passive posture "All we are able to do is wait and heal whatever wounds Lightning receives. She is alone in there."

So we waited. And healed Sunshine's wounds, of course. The worst wound was a bruise that appeared on her neck that wouldn't go away.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

The One Winged Angel had his left hand around my throat and was holding me off the ground. I was struggling for air, which felt odd here, and could feel myself slipping away.

"You actually believed you could overcome me? In the mindscape? As long as we are in here, I am invincible."

"Every being can be killed," I choked out.

"That is true, Lightning. But compared to you humans, I am more than a god. Compared to you, I am the cosmos themselves."

"You're a memory."

"What?" he looked confused.

"You're dead. You were killed by Cloud and his friends," he dropped me, but I kept my footing when I landed "You are nothing more than a bad memory of Sephiroth's. And because of that, you have no power over me."

"You disgusting vermin," One Winged Angel sounded irritated.

He moved to attack me but as he did, a massive symbol appeared on the 'ground'. It had the l'Cie symbol in it but there was a lot of other symbols burying it. He looked down at it and back up at me the briefest glimpse of worry crossed his face before he charged faster. Thinking quickly, I attacked the ground, the symbol cracked and One Winged Angel grunted as if hurt. I attacked the symbol hard and fast, also dodging the attacks he threw at me. Eventually though, it shattered and the One Winged Angel flew back, as if hit really hard in the chest and started to dissolve. Right before he was gone, his face changed into a completely different face and gave me a quick smirk, one that said: I win.

Did I just make a huge mistake? No. That memory was pure evil, it was from when Jenova controlled Sephiroth. It was trying to make me doubt my actions, trying to take away my quick thinking and determination.

The darkness surrounded me and when it faded, I was looking into the bright blue sky. I pushed myself up and was just about tackled by Vanille, Aerith, and Hope. The others stood behind them, looking to each other for answers. I felt something in my hand, looked at what I felt and saw the Black Materia. Without thinking, I threw it over to Genesis. I never want to be anywhere near that thing again. I looked beside me and saw Sephiroth. What I just did, all those memories I saw, it all felt like a strange dream. The kind that your brain knows is false and makes no sense so it works hard to delete it. Because of that, I tried my best to hold onto everything I could remember about what happened.

Sephiroth woke up, sat up quickly, then looked at me. His face and eyes devoid of emotion. All he did was stand up quickly and basically storm off quickly even though everyone was throwing questions at him. I could hear everyone talking but I didn't understand them, like they were heavily muffled by something. One thing is going through my mind right now.

What do I do now? Talk to Sephiroth about what happened or pretend it never happened and let my brain delete it all?

**FINALLY! Forgive me for saying this, but holy fucking shit that took a long time. And I was constantly working on this, unlike those times I went a month or more without an update. Anyways, I feel like I could have done WAY more with this chapter, actually I know I could have as I had more memories planned but got sick of writing them. I thought about making this a two part chapter, but personally, I hate it when people do that regardless of the medium (tv shows, movies, books, fanfics), so why would I do it when it drives me nuts? I also feel like I could have done an overall better job with the chapter. But at the same time, I feel like I'm improving with capturing the first-person view, and think the Seph/Light pairing has finally moved a step or six forward.**

**End of rant.**

**Please leave a review and let me know if something can be improved or if I made an error somewhere.**


	31. Chapter 31

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

What is wrong with me?

I feel like my head is about explode, my pulse is racing, my vision is blurred, and I'm feeling nauseous. It's like I'm experiencing every emotion simultaneously but that doesn't make sense. I spent the greater part of two decades crafting a wall between me and them. Emotions are not useful to me, they cloud judgment, hinder reason, and are a very obvious weakness, I can't afford to let them out.

Now that I'm thinking about it, why did I just walk off like that? And where am I? How did I get here? That's not important right now. I'll figure that out after I reign in some control over my own mind.

Okay Sephiroth, think. What happened? Jenova attacked us, I tossed the Black Materia to Genesis, Jenova put her hand on my head and... everything goes dark. I wake up, turn, and the first thing I see is Lightning's ice blue eyes. Why did I just use that term? I never use that kind of detail. Anyways, see Lightning and... and, uh... That's when my pulse started to race and this strange feeling in my gut started. But why I did get up and leave? I didn't even grab my sword...

Wait, Angeal once said something about times people perform strange acts without reason or conscious thought. What were they again? … Oh yeah, times of pure rage, panic, and love. Well I'm certain I didn't feel mad or afraid in any way and it definitely was not love. I've always gone out of my way to avoid that one, because from I've seen and heard, love causes people to do the most irrational and pathetic actions imaginable. It is an irrational human emotion, a superior being like me has no reason to give in to such petty things.

I may as well start tracking my own steps back to the camp. And try to at least fix some of my mental wall. Still can't believe it though, twenty years of careful crafting and rebuilding and in a manner of seconds the walls fractured. Emotions are a weakness, all they will do is hinder my purpose, and erode my determination.

A few twists and turns later, I'm back at camp. I managed to go a surprising distance in a short time. The questioning looks were not a surprise. I only responded by making eye contact and giving a short, piercing glare. However, I felt my expression soften, involuntarily, when I met Lightning's ice blue gaze and I knew I lingered a moment too long on her... I did it again! I used that superfluous detail again! What is wrong with me? I ripped my eyes from hers and started towards my sword, must have been amusing to Zack, Angeal, or Genesis to watch someone carry the Masamune.

"_Will you be gone long?"_

"_A while, Sephiroth. But don't worry. I'll see you again. I promise. Just make sure to be a good boy while I'm gone, okay?"_

I felt my breath catch and my eyes sting but I kept my pace steady and strong. So I'm getting flashbacks now? Wonderful. Wait... even though it was very clouded and only words came through... It was an exchange with Professor Gast... No. No, no, no, no. I buried those memories. I escaped them, they can't come back now.

I retrieved my sword and used the equip materia to conceal it. I know I'm focusing too much on my actions but I really can't afford to let my mind wander in any way. Regaining my composure, I turn back to the group and I knew they were waiting for an explanation from me but they are never going to get one.

"Let's go. We've wasted too much time here," I commanded "Fang, Vanille, front and center."

We started off and I felt strange. I have no words for the feeling but if I had to call it something, I would say void-like. Maybe this is what people mean when they say they feel empty.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

Sephiroth was quiet while we traveled, his expression was neutral, and he never used that materia to carry his sword. He had gone back to the same person as when we had just started this journey. Minus the mysterious part of him. After seeing what he had to go through... Made what happened to me and Serah look... A life like his would have destroyed me. Any or all of us, I'm sure of it.

Everyone, except Genesis, kept asking me about what happened when I suddenly collapsed. There is no way I will tell them about being inside Sephiroth's mind, I've already invaded his privacy on a level that I thought impossible. I'm not going to share his secrets on top of that.

We stopped for a break about midday. Sephiroth, Fang, and myself stayed on our feet, Angeal, Snow, and Zack stooped into a squatting position, and the others sat down or lay in the grass. No one has talked much at all today, almost as if we were just enjoying the nature. The truth though, I'm sure we're all just afraid of saying something that will accidentally set off Sephiroth.

"Genesis," Sephiroth started, pulling me out of my thoughts and catching us all off guard "That darkness you used to get us out of the canyon, what is it?"

"Corrupted lifestream," Genesis answered nonchalantly, not even moving from where he was laying in the grass. It took me a moment, but I remembered what Sephiroth had said about that topic in his story.

"What?" I felt myself say.

"Really?" Aerith and Vanille said together.

"Yes. Lifestream tainted by Jenova, Geostigma, and Sephiroth," Genesis had his odd tone which he used when reciting a poem or quoting that LOVELESS poem of his.

"It's changed since I last saw it," Sephiroth stated flatly.

"Not at all," Genesis argued as he stood up "It may be spirit energy that the planet can't use but I am able to convert and manipulate the darkness."

"Wanna repeat that in a language we can understand?" Sazh commented. I shared his thought.

"I am taking on the role of a Mako reactor and refining the corrupted lifestream into a usable form of energy."

"Couldn't you use that to take us to Cocoon?" Snow suggested. I wanted to suggest the same thing but was worried that it might be a moronic thing to say.

"It is very easy for me to travel through the darkness but each additional person makes it exponentially more difficult. The darkness is more than willing to accept you, but it's getting you out that is the problem," Genesis had a way of making dark and terrible things sound like nothing special.

"Um... What exactly is corrupted lifestream?" Vanille asked. Genesis looked over to her.

"It is just like the lifestream but it is comprised of those tainted by Jenova cells and pure evil. However, it does not flow or diffuse into the lifestream."

"So it just grows more and more stagnant," Angeal added.

"Not that this a riveting day brightener of a conversation," Fang said loudly "But we should keep going. If we're lucky, we'll reach Mah'habara tomorrow."

"Then let's continue," Sephiroth stated and motioned for Fang to take the lead.

We set up camp when night fell in what would be the shadow of what looks like a hill that had been half destroyed. Clouds had started to roll in and block out the moonlight making the fire look so much brighter. Zack had Aerith in his lap and was holding her close protectively, his sword stabbed into the ground beside him. Angeal and Genesis were off to one side, quietly talking about something or another. Vanille and Fang were doing the same thing but opposite of the two men. Snow, Hope, and Sazh were against the hill talking about something that kept making them laugh. Me and Sephiroth were standing guard, basically, but I still wanted to talk to him about what he had been hiding about himself. How can someone go through those terrible times and be so... Calm?

"So what're we all gonna do after this?" I heard Hope ask the air.

"That is a very good question, Kid," Fang replied. I could hear the smile on her face.

"Hard to say. Never really thought about it," Angeal said with a light chuckle.

"I'm gonna marry Serah and be the happiest guy in the world," Snow said loudly and cheerfully. As much as I wanted to be irritated by Snow's optimism, I couldn't help but smile. Good thing I'm looking away from everyone.

"Going to take Dajh to see the chocobos," Sazh's words made the small smile of mine grow a bit larger.

"We're gonna open a flower shop," Zack said proudly, obviously talking about him and Aerith.

"What are you going to do, Light?" Vanille asked innocently.

"I," I never thought about it "I have no idea."

"I will continue to serve Lady Minerva," Genesis stated, thankfully taking the attention away from me "What about you Sephiroth?"

I looked over to Sephiroth, genuinely curious about what he might say. He just let out a loud 'tsk' sound and started to walk away. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Angeal slowly shake his head and Genesis roll his eyes. I wanted to go after Sephiroth but at the same time I felt like he just wanted to be left alone. Serah said I do the same thing whenever something irritates me or when I'm upset and she never knew what to do, which always made her really mad. I finally know what it's like.

"What's Pretty Boy's problem?" Fang asked.

"Sephiroth has a great dislike for idle chatter," Angeal said in a very passive tone.

"Seems like he has something on his mind," I stated in my 'soldier tone' as I've heard Fang call it.

"If that's the case, let him be. He prefers being alone," Genesis' statement made the decision for me.

Clearly Genesis doesn't know his friend as well as he thinks. If he actually knew about Sephiroth's life, he would know that leaving him alone does more harm than actually helping. I heard someone ask about where I was going and someone else, probably Fang, make a joke or something. I wasn't much attention to them.

I found Sephiroth on the other side of the hill we made camp under, but a lengthy distance away. He moves really fast, but after everything I've seen and heard, it's not surprising. A light breeze had started and the clouds had started to break just a little bit, letting moonlight through. The pale light reflected off of Sephiroth's hair and made it glow brightly and the breeze made it wave gently. It made him look almost innocent and pure. However, the moonlight glaring off the Masamune made it look much more sinister than it already is.

I walked up to Sephiroth and the whole time he made no move. I went in front of him and saw that he was looking up at the moon, still not reacting to my presence. His eyes were unfocused, looked glassy, didn't move in the slightest, and he wasn't blinking. It was mildly creepy to see him in such a trance like state.

"Sephiroth? What's wrong?"

"None of you understand. We won't survive the battle against Jenova," His voice was calm and empty.

"We did when she attacked us by that canyon," I pointed out.

"We caught her off guard and she wasn't expecting us to use the Black Materia."

"So we'll use the Black Materia against her again. If it worked once, it should work again."

"It won't work. Genesis could use it to destroy Cocoon and everything in it, but to specifically target Jenova, even if we combined our power, it wouldn't be enough."

"We will find a way. We've made it this far, haven't we?" my voice was more gentle than I meant it to be. That's when I saw it. It was well hidden by his long peaked bangs, but I saw it. A tear rolled down his face to his jaw then fell onto the collar of his coat.

"Jenova is going to tear all of us to pieces. I know exactly when we will all die and there is nothing I can do to stop it," Even though another tear rolled down his cheek, his tone was calm.

What could I say? What can I do? Sephiroth had power greater than what any of us have and Jenova still made him look weak, according to his story. I just stood there silently as Sephiroth's expression went from neutral to actually sad. His gaze fell from the moon to his shoes and I just kept standing there.

"I can't do it anymore," he spoke quietly.

"What?"

"I've lost my will to continue," I felt my eyes widen and my heart drop at his words.

"Sephiroth," I heard myself whisper. I saw my hand slowly reaching towards him but had no control over it.

"I'm tired of having no control over my life. I'm tired of being a pawn and I just want this all to end," his breath caught and his voice broke "I want my torment to end and just fade into memory," he was obviously trying not to, but he was starting to cry. I heard the Masamune gently land in the grass.

Then something happened before I knew what was going on. I knew that it went against who both me and Sephiroth were, but I did it anyways. Maybe it was just an instinct from when me and Serah were younger. Doesn't matter why I was doing it but here I am, going against mine and Sephiroth's 'don't let anyone near me' nature, with my arms around him. There is a part of me saying that this is the right thing to do and another part of me saying that I am moments away from death. I just about jumped out of my skin when I felt his arms wrap around me and his face press against my head. One of his bangs fell near my face.

"I – I just..." he stuttered between sobs. He was trying very hard to not tremble from the sobbing. I remembered something Serah told me once on a night she caught me crying about... Well I don't remember what about.

"It's okay, just let it all out. I know you feel dumb for crying since you're supposed to be strong, but everybody cries. It's only human," I repeated the words to Sephiroth, hoping they would help.

The hug from Sephiroth felt really strange. Not because he never actually went that close to people, might have something to do with it though, it just felt like he was not used to doing it. Looking back on the memories of his I saw, it was likely he never felt this kind, or any kind now that I think of it, of affection. I hugged him tighter after that thought.

I'm not sure when we did, but we wound up sitting down in the tall grass. We sat there for hours, judging by the moon's movement, Sephiroth soundlessly sobbing into my shoulder. I'm curious how different this would have been if I hadn't followed him, if someone else went after him. Is he only opening up like this to me because I was in his mind? Does he even know I did that?

When he stopped sobbing, he went back to staring at the moon. His weren't red or puffy at all, I found that really strange but it must have something to do with him being 'perfect' as he has said a few times. He suddenly stood up, grabbed the Masamune, and started walking away but stopped after a few steps.

"I'm going back to camp," he said in his official tone "We don't need Fang making jokes about us being gone all night."

I watched him walk away then let myself fall back into the grass. I lay there for a long time, just staring at the pale moon and figured out why Sephiroth did it. It was calming, but gave the mind something to analyze, to think about. My mind wandered back to when Sephiroth was hugging me and I realize now that it was nice to be hugged by someone again. He had a strong but gentle hold and even though he had been falling apart, I felt strangely safe with him and... Oh no... I think I'm falling for him.

~~~~Fang's POV~~~~

Assuming Pretty Boy and Sunshine went off to make a perimeter, the rest of us called it a night. When I woke up, I saw Pretty Boy sittin' against the hill, asleep, and Sunshine was sittin' out in the open. She must have been up all night keepin' watch. Why didn't she wake up me or Genny, Pup, or Angeal? Yeah, I've given up trying to think of a nickname for him. Still, why did Sunshine stay up all night? Looking around though, Angeal and Genny were gone.

I left to go catch some breakfast and as I walked by, Sunshine gave me a light nod. It was obvious she needed some sleep. I'm actually surprised she had stayed up all night. When we first arrived on Gran Pulse, she was pretty noisy about letting us know we had to get a full nights rest each night. Silly girl, thought Gran Pulse wouldn't change her. This beautiful world can change anyone. I saw Angeal and Genny near some rocks so I decided to sneak up and eavesdrop on their guy talk.

"Seriously?" Angeal asked. Yes! They didn't notice me!

"It is fascinating, isn't it?" Genny said in his poetic tone "I have learned a great deal from the souls in the lifestream."

"Should we tell the others?"

"Not a word."

"We have to tell them, Genesis!" Angeal whispered harshly.

"We cannot, Angeal. Sephiroth is already coming apart at the seams. We share this news, it will destroy him and J-"

"I know, Genesis. You don't have to tell me that part."

"Worry not, Angeal. I've been thinking about a way around the issue," Genesis sounded like he was getting closer to me, then he was right in front of me with a hand on his hip.

"Fang? What are you doing?" Genny asked me.

"Hunting breakfast," I replied with a smile.

"While sitting behind a rock?" Angeal asked me.

"Well I heard some noise and decided to investigate the loudest prey on the planet," I said with a smirk "But then after remembering cannibalism is unhealthy, I decided to listen in," Angeal laughed and Genny shook his head.

"Matters not," Genny said with a wave of his hand "Would you like some extra hands?"

"Sure," I felt the large grin on my face as I stood up "Nice to have company every now and again."

After a good breakfast we all set off for Mah'habara, the massive tunnel system dug by Atomos. I wonder how that has changed in the last five hundred years...

On our way there, I noticed two things. Sunshine was always upfront with me and Pup even though she needed sleep, and Pretty Boy was hanging back and only used magic. I saw Sunshine constantly looking over her shoulder at him and saw how he was always looking at the ground when we weren't fighting anything. Something isn't right, that is rather obvious though.

A few hours before dusk, we reached the gateway to the Subterra. It was really just a giant opening in the side of a cliff but we always called it the gateway. As we went underground, the light quickly faded, mostly because of the winding path downward, and the air got more and more stuffy. I guess the isn't much of a breeze down here. I heard some of the others talking about the place and the really old Pulse machines still digging and gathering. A dull rumble started in the ground and I felt a smile grow, at least ol' Atomos is still here.

"What's that?" Old Man asked, he sounded a bit panicked.

"Earthquake?" Angeal asked as well.

"Nope," Vanille replied cheerfully "That's Atomos. He digs these tunnels."

"As long as he stays wherever it is he is, I'm fine with what he does," Pup joked.

A while later, I would say about an hour, we reached a caved in tunnel. The worst part of it, it was the tunnel I took to and from Oerba with Vanille. There is another tunnel going in another direction but we're going to be blindly wandering through Mah'habara and only the peaceful machines were on the main path. Things were going to get interesting and I lead everyone down the other tunnel. Wasn't too long before we found some robots also made for security but they were not match for Oerba Yun Fang! Or the other l'Cie. It was also five hundred years old...

We took a break when we reached a three way intersection. I was already really lost in here and who knows where these tunnels went. We could be lost down here for days and that's really not good because we have maybe two days worth of supplies. I was putting a lot of effort into fixing my mental compass so we could get out of here as fast as possible.

"What's that sound?" I heard Pup ask and instantly heard a familiar hiss.

I looked down the tunnel we came from and saw a group of eight bombs flying towards us. I shouted to get everyone on their feet but the bombs detonated really early, raising dust and throwing rocks at us. I felt cuts on my arms start to sting and knew they had been antipersonnel bombs so they had been loaded with shrapnel. A loud crack made me look up and I saw the walls and roof start to break. I looked around and saw Aerith, Genesis, and Sephiroth wordlessly communicate. They all sent powerful Aero spells at the floor in the middle of us and we were all thrown in different directions.

Sephiroth and Light were thrown into the left tunnel, Vanille, Angeal, Genesis, and me into the right tunnel, and the rest of the group went forward. The sound of the roof and walls collapsing was deafening and pounded into my skull, giving me a headache. It only took a few seconds, but the intersection was obviously completely buried and we were split up. I knew the tunnel now had a high risk of collapsing so we had to get far away very quickly. I grabbed Vanille and basically threw her onto my shoulder, and I started to run down the tunnel with Angeal and Genesis on my tail. I want to know if the others were as lucky as us four, but we won't know for a while. Dear Etro, please make sure everyone else is okay.

~~~~Jenova's POV~~~~

The crystal statue intrigued me, in an interesting way. It look as if it had been carved out of the crystal behind and underneath it but held far too much detail to be a carving. As hard as I tried to even scratch the damned crystal, nothing I did had any effect. Minerva certainly is creative when it comes to protecting her warriors. Funny, she was much more careless in the past. Guess she learned from mistakes.

The door behind me opened and in came Yaag with Raines. How Raines was once again among the living, I'll find out eventually. But since he is back, I may as well use him.

"I knew it was you," Raines said in a rather offensive tone.

"Yazoo," I summoned my middle child to my side "Take Miss Farron here to Eden. Yaag, take Raines. Kadaj, Loz, force the rest of the Cavalry into submission and bring the Lindblum to Eden."

My sons departed and I took some time to examine the room that had been holding the crystalized "l'Cie" as she had been called. The room was simple, plain, as if it were only meant for cargo, which it most likely was. Becoming bored of the Lindblum, I teleported to my office in Eden and looked out the grand window, down at people walking around, going about their errands and lives. Blissfully unaware that their world and lives had less than a month left on the clock.

It brought a smile to my face. Soon all of these vermin will be dead and gone but I, Jenova, will live on. Soon everything I had worked so hard to achieve would be within my grasp. Cocoon will crash down to Gran Pulse and I will be there to absorb all that life trying to return.

True, the plan may be a knockoff of Meteor but it will work. It almost did for Sephiroth, except this time, Holy is lost and forgotten so nothing will be in my way. However, I will not underestimate that group. I of all people should know better than to doubt Sephiroth.

**Please leave a Review.**


	32. Chapter 32

**Previous chapter has been edited, might want to go read the changes before continuing. Don't have to but may as well.**

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

When the strange ball-like robots swarmed us and exploded, I felt several pieces of shrapnel cut my arms, legs, and chest. The explosion, combined with centuries old tunnel work, caused the roof to start caving in. Thinking quickly, I looked to Genesis and Aerith, for some reason, and we simultaneously sent powerful wind spells to the center of the group, breaking us into three groups. Lightning and I were sent into one tunnel, Genesis, Angeal, Fang, and Vanille were sent down another, and the others were sent down the last.

I landed on my back and immediately, mostly by reflex, threw myself into a roll and was back on my feet. I watched as massive slabs of rock fell and shattered, burying the intersection and cutting us off from the others. The sound of the collapse was more than deafening but it only lasted a few seconds. For several long seconds, I stood there staring at the boulders sealing the tunnel thinking about how I could have died right there. How we all could have died but if I alone had died, the Black Materia would have been buried with me. Harsh breathing and some whimpering caught my attention and pulled my gaze down to my right.

Lightning was on the ground, on her back, Blaze Edge was near my foot, and a large rock was on her right leg. Fortunately, the rock wasn't on her knee but her shin, ankle, and foot were most likely broken, probably shattered. I bent down, lifted the rock which weighed about a hundred pounds, and tossed it aside. I looked at Lightning's face just as she looked down to her leg, her lips were twisted into a feminine snarl at the pain.

"This is going to hurt immensely," I said to her as I loosened her boot so it could be removed "Try to remain as quiet as possible, the rest of the tunnel will be unstable from the collapse."

She cried out as I removed the boot and did so again as I removed her long sock. I could tell right away that her shin bone had been broken, as the bone was piercing through the skin. Lightning almost cried out, muffled herself by biting down on her jacket's collar, as I pushed the bone back into place. I removed my remaining pauldron and pulled off the narrowest plate, bent it straight, tore off my left sleeve at the shoulder, and produced a makeshift splint for Lightning's leg. That's when I realized the worst part of this situation, I am incapable of using healing spells and Lightning's could use much improvement.

"Use your healing spells to help your-" I stopped talking when I noticed a piece of metal sticking through Lightning's skirt.

I took a glance under Lightning's skirt, noticing her tight shorts for the first time, and saw that the piece of metal was actually a fair length and was stabbing into her inner thigh. Two facts came forward, both from my medical training, the first being that either her femoral artery was severed and she was going to bleed out in minutes or had almost been, the second fact being I had to either cut away her skirt and shorts to deal with the injury or pull out the metal and quickly remove the articles of clothing. Hesitating, I reached out and started to unclasp her belt but was immediately stopped by Lightning.

"What are you doing?" she just about shouted.

"You have shrapnel in your thigh and I have to make sure it didn't sever your femoral artery. I can either remove your skirt and shorts or cut them off to treat the wound. Your choice," I calmly explained. I noticed a slight pain starting in my side, near my hip but ignored it.

Lightning hesitantly agreed and let go of my hands. I finished unclasping her belt, grabbed the metal sticking out of her thigh and pulled it out. Lightning was lucky that the explosion that made the shrapnel gave it smooth edges. I didn't actually remove Lightning's lower clothing, just pulled it to her knees. The wound was actually higher than I originally thought, the piece of metal must have deflected off the ground to get such an angle, just looking at the wound gave me a clear view of her plain black underwear. I cleaned the wound with a weak water spell and did several checks to make sure that her artery hadn't been severed, which it wasn't which makes her very lucky. For a makeshift bandage, I ripped a piece off the end of Lightning's cape and used the straps from my pauldron to secure it.

While refastening her belt, I happened to notice a silver piercing in Lightning's naval. It confused me for a moment simply because it drastically went against her personality. Although, there was that time Genesis convinced Angeal and I to get the SOLDIER emblem tattooed on our left shoulders. But that was my original body.

"You're bleeding," Lightning told me when I finished resetting her clothing. Glancing down at where the pain was coming from, I saw the source. A piece of shrapnel had speared me as well, so I yanked it out and tossed it away.

"Didn't that hurt at all?" Lightning sounded a little spooked.

"Yes," I reply simply as I cleaned my wound "But I've received much worse," I was mainly talking about when I was stabbed with the Buster Sword in Nibelheim but each fight with Cloud came to mind "So how am I carrying you?" I asked Lightning when I stopped bleeding.

"What?" she asked back as she cast the hundredth healing spell on her leg.

"You're not walking on that leg until Aerith, Hope, or Vanille have healed it and I thought I would let you keep some dignity by letting you choose how to be carried," Lightning sigh audibly and lifted her left arm, giving me a cue.

I carried Lightning in the 'bridal' fashion, as most call it, and ran through the tunnel, my superior body and Mako enhancement carrying us far into the tunnel. I would have summoned Zalera for us to ride by I had a severe distrust of the tunnels integrity. When I inevitably came across enemies, I gently set Lightning on the ground, summoned the Masamune, and cut them down. Then unequipped my sword, picked up Lightning, and kept running. Continued like that until I was just too tired to proceed. I really need a dose of J-cells.

"If you gave up, why are you working so hard to find the others?" Lightning asked me from her place in my arms. I was just walking at a calm pace.

"You have a wound that's likely to get infected, if it isn't already, and you still want to get Serah back. I won't allow a comrade to die because of my misery."

"A soldier to the end, huh?" Lightning said in an... odd tone.

"I know nothing else," I answered without emotion "By the way, now would be a good time to tell me your story."

"What?" She sounded surprised.

"I was aware of you intruding my mind and seeing some of my memories. So I say it is your turn to share your story."

Lightning sigh audibly before beginning her story. I only demanded she tell her story because this trip through the tunnels would take a while. It made a couple of hours pass by, the interruptions of robotic enemies assisted in that, and I was not impressed by Lightning's story. She never knew her mother, father died when she and Serah were young, Lightning joined the Guardian Corps and gave up her life to pay for Serah's school. It was nothing compared to me but I'm not not sure what I was expecting.

~~~~Fang's POV~~~~

"You think they're okay?" Vanille asked us, obviously worried.

"The others should have cleared the collapse, just as we did," Genny said to calm Vanille.

"Besides Aerith and Hope are with them. They're great healers," Angeal added.

"Sunshine and Pretty Boy are alone," I pointed out. Genny huffed in amusement.

"Well they're both great warriors, I send my condolences towards whatever has the misfortune to meet them," Genny joked.

"I hope they're okay though," Vanille said "Sephiroth said he can't heal people and Lightning isn't very good at it."

"Don't worry, if he had the tools, Sephiroth could perform surgery and I'm sure Lightning at least knows first aid. This will only be a challenge to them," Angeal said with a very charming smile.

"For now, we push on. Our supplies will only last a day or two."

"Couldn't you use that dark lifestream, or whatever it is, to gather up the group?" I asked Genny, curious why he hadn't already.

"I have to know or there has to be knowledge of the location in the corruption to allow me travel. As there hasn't been a living a soul down here in at least two centuries..." Genny trailed off and finished with a shrug.

So we made our way through the tunnel. Twists, turns, dead ends, and cave-ins were just littered through Mah'habara. I'm not even sure if we have been walking for hours or minutes. Felt like hours... And the whole time Genny and Vanille were chatting away. Sharing stories from the past and whatnot. It amazed me that Vanille could be so calm about everything, not saying I'm panicked or anything. Even if I was I wouldn't let it show.

"Fang!" Angeal shouted. I felt a strong arm wrap around my middle and whirl me around. The squeal of metal being scratched together pierced my ears just a moment later.

Two things were clear as I separated myself from the arm, Angeal had grabbed me and a Yaksha had tried to claw me but its claws only hit Angeals giant sword. I lifted my spear to fight it but Genesis beat me to the punch, stabbing it in the face and killing the bird like creature instantly.

"I guess it pays to have you superheroes around," I joked as I put my lance on my back.

"It pays to pay attention," Angeal laughed.

"Or just simply look to the heavens every so often," Genny said in an odd way. He looked at me and sigh, must've been giving him an odd look "Look up occasionally."

"I am a hunter, y'know," I said back at Genny.

"I am aware. Maybe you should spend less time thinking about Sunshine," Genny said to me. Wait... What?

"What? Why would would I be thinking about Sun-er-Lightning?" I made sure to not use my nickname for Light right now.

"We've all seen the way act and walk while the group was together. Not to mention you always fighting alongside her, showing off the entire time," Genny listed. I stopped dead in my tracks and crossed my arms. The other also stopped.

"I ain't a lesbian you freak," I said sternly, trying not to laugh at myself because it's not the first time someone has thought that "If anything, you're the gay one, Genny," he clearly did not like that nickname but then he just shrugged.

"I can see why you think that. It's the earrings, right?" Genny asked with a smile.

"And the poetry," I said with a smirk.

"Now what is wrong with a passion for literature?"

"Nothing, it's the way you sound when quoting stuff. You get all dreamy and sound like a teenage girl," I laughed when I finished. Angeal chuckled.

"All right kids," Angeal said as he put a hand on my and Genny's shoulder "Let's get going."

So we push on and fight our way through monsters. Lots and lots of monsters. Yaksha, Yakshini, Skata'ne and Rust Pudding. Still wonder why that kind of Flan is called that. I'm sure there was a better name for it at some point. Oh well. What am I gonna do about it?

Angeal barely fought the whole time, only when an enemy decided to go after him. He supported us the rest of the time but when he did fight, he used his fists. Why have that ginormous sword and not use it? Kind of a waste really. Eventually, we wound up in a very big cavern with no obvious way across some very nasty looking water.

"Alright, Genny. Fire up that darkness of yours to get us across."

"The less time you all spend in the corruption the better it is for your sanity," He looked around for a second "That crane there. I'll use it to get you three to the other side then fly over."

"Why not just use Bahamut to go across?" Vanille asked.

"Because I'm more than certain that Fang's Eidolon will cause another cave in and this area looks like its barely holding to begin with. Now go get on that plaform."

Me, Vanille, and Angeal, got onto the platform being held by the crane and Genny started the crane to take us across. The engine was old and clunky but quiet. The platform swung gently as we moved above that disgusting water. Not even sure you could call it water, its probably closer to sewage by now.

"How come you don't fight?" Vanille asked suddenly, obviously to Angeal and he just chuckled.

"Violence only brings more violence. I dream of a world united in peace but that will never be possible if everyone chooses violence as the first course of action. It should always be the very last resort, even retreating should be considered before it."

"That doesn't justify letting a weapon like that go to waste," I said to him.

"The Buster Sword is a symbol of honor and fortitude. Use also brings wear, tear, and rust, and that would be the real waste. But my real reason for not using it, my parents had it custom made for me when I was promoted to First Class. It cost far more than they could afford."

"Oh..." Vanille said.

"You mentioned you enjoyed cooking a while back, why?" That had been bothering me for a while. I just assumed he, Pup, Genny, and Pretty Boy had survival skills but Angeal here actually knew how to cook.

"We were encouraged to have a hobby. Help us cope with what we experienced. I took up cooking, Genesis had his books, Zack helped people in general, and Sephiroth-" Angeal cut himself off and went silent.

"What about Pretty Boy?" I asked for me and Vanille.

"He wouldn't like me saying this but he took up art."

"Art?" Vanille tilted her head when she asked.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes, every spare moment he had he was either sketching in the lounge or locked in his room working on a painting."

"Were they any good?" Vanille asked, I was stunned silent by this.

"Shinra hung many of them in the building or sold them for a ridiculous amount. Nothing was presented under his name, of course, but all the money he made off the work went to various charities. He always said he had no use for the money and he wanted to use his to create to counter always destroying."

Me and Vanille were quiet. I had no idea of what to say and I assume Vanille didn't either. It was just surprising to hear. I already knew Sephiroth had a good heart and kind soul but the extent was amazing.

The crane's engine went silent and the platform stopped. We were still far away from the other side and Genesis was flying over to us with his one wing. Now how does one fly with only one wing? I'll just go with magic since that always works.

"The engine burnt out, I'll go up and push the arm." Genesis told us and Angeal just nodded.

"So what's between you and Genny?" I remember Angeal saying they had adopted each other as brothers, kinda like me and Vanille adopting each other as sisters.

"We're basically brothers. Genesis didn't have many friends in Banora because he was the mayor's son and was buried in a book most of the time. I was big for my age and didn't have many friends either. We were drawn to each other because of the Jenova cells and even though I'm younger than him, I'm like his big brother. Always looking out for and trying to protect him."

"Awe, that's sweet," Vanille said cheerfully.

"Vanille, could I ask you a question?" Angeal asked just as the platform came close to the other side of the cavern and we got off it.

"Sure!" Vanille replied with a big smile just as Genny landed with us.

"Now I'm going to be blunt about this, but what are you hiding?" Angeal's question surprised me. Since when can Vanille keep a secret from me?

"What do you mean?" Vanille started walking, making the rest of us follow her.

"I noticed that you give a certain look when thinking about something unpleasant, and you seem to be using that look and looking at Fang as of late," Angeal explained as we found an area that was open to the sky, at the top of a bloody sheer cliff. But it was still outside and the fresh air was wonderful.

"What?" Vanille started to look like a kicked puppy. I wanted to hug her to make her feel better and punch Angeal, but Angeal was always right about this kind of thing.

"Van? Is there something you're not telling me?" I asked in the tone that always got Vanille to tell me what she was hiding.

"No, I'm not," I've said it a thousand times, Vanille cannot keep secrets from me.

"Van," I said more sternly, more big sister like.

"Fang," she whined "Please don't make me tell."

"Vanille," I urged a bit more.

"Fang, please..." Why is she begging?

"Why won't you tell me?" Angeal and Genny stood there quietly, just watching us.

"Because its about why you don't remember your Focus," My breath stopped and my heart skipped a beat. A tear went down Vanille's cheek.

"How long have you known?" I almost whispered.

"The whole time, I never lost any of my memory," Vanille was actually crying now.

"What?" I shouted without meaning to "Then tell me why I can't remember anything!"

"No!" she shouted back.

I'm not sure what happened next. Angeal and Genny were suddenly moving then Angeal was helping me to my feet and the four of us were in a face off with a red and black Eidolon with dozens of arms. It looked... odd. I really don't know what to think about the thing. What I do know, we have to beat it.

**I do apologize for how long it isn't but this chapter was hard at times to write. **

**Now to admit something, Fang's POV wasn't written by the original AbyssKeeper. For personal reasons, he has stopped writing and has given me full ownership of his current stories (except The Calamity, said he had to do that one himself) and I worked as hard as I could to match his writing style. I hope I did a good job and all the fans of his work will continue to support it. I will be trying my hardest to convince him to come back, so bear with me.**

**Oh, and don't worry about the story taking a major left in the plot. I'm following AK's original blueprint for the story and running all my ideas past him.**

**Please leave a review to let AbyssKeeper know he has to finish what he started.**


	33. Chapter 33

**Should have said this last chapter, I am AbyssKeeper's oldest (and most trusted) friend, which is the only reason he gave me permission to continue his work. I am keeping my name a secret because I'm paranoid that way. He should have said this earlier, Genesis' outfit or costume is the one from the "secret" ending video from DoC or Gackt's costume from the Redemption music video.**

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

We were lucky that Sephiroth and Genesis had been thinking the same thing as me. I thought we were gonna die when the tunnel started caving in but I'm not afraid of death, I was afraid for the others. I don't know what happened after I sent my Aeroga because I shut my eyes but the sound from the collapse gave me a headache. I only opened my eyes when I felt someone hug me, first thing I saw was Zack's jaw.

I took a look around and saw Hope, Sazh, and Snow. I instantly thought the others didn't escape the cave in but then I remembered the other two tunnels. I hope they are safe. To get my mind off of the thoughts of the others being crushed to death, I started healing the cuts we got from the bombs. Zack gave me a hug then we started down the tunnel.

Zack and Snow stayed in front of me, Hope, and Sazh, to make sure we wouldn't get hurt. Sazh stayed kind of between me and Hope, and Snow and Zack, helpin' to protect us kids, as he said. We stayed quiet until we were far away from the place that collapsed. Zack said a small noise could make it collapse more and the rest of us just trusted him because he most likely knew best. He was a part of SOLDIER after all.

After a long time of walking, I heard something. It was like whispers or someone talking far away from us. When we got closer, I could tell it was voices in the lifestream, but not at the same time. It's... strange... I've never heard voices like that before. I wonder what they are.

"Kill me..." the whisper sounded really close and far away but those words were clear.

"So much pain..." a woman this time.

"It hurts..." a young man.

"Please... End this torture..." an old man.

"Let me die..." a young girl.

My head is starting to hurt. Those voices... they're suffering... and they're dead but not dead... I can't think straight. My head just hurts way too much. Where are these voices coming from? Do the others hear them? No, of course not. They're not Cetra, like me.

"You okay?" Hope asked me. I just noticed that I was looking at the ground and holding my head.

"Cie'th!" Snow shouted from somewhere in front of me.

The fight went for a while, I didn't help at all because of those voices that were drilling into my head. The weird voices went quiet, one by one, until they were gone and my headache vanished with them. I looked at at the Cie'th and wished I didn't. They were monsters, ugly, disgusting monsters. I covered my eyes and ran to Zack, he wrapped his arms around me, making me feel safe. I don't know what the others saw when they looked at the Coe'th, but it can't be what I see. I don't know how I know I see something different from what they see, I just know. At least Zack, Snow, Hope, and Sazh, were able to free those people from being Cie'th.

"Genesis said the l'Cie mark was the mark of warriors for Minerva, or whatever her name was, right?" Snow asked.

"Yeah?" Zack replied, I could feel his chest rumble when he talked.

"Then why would she make people become Cie'th if they don't complete their Focus?" Snow asked.

"That is a question for Genesis. So we had better hurry up and find him and the others," Sazh answered.

Zack lead me away from the dead Cie'th because I refused to look at them again. Not too much later though, I started hearing the whispers again. I hate it here, I want to get away from the Cie'th. How come the Cie'th back in the vestige didn't whisper like this?

I don't care. I just need to get away from these Cie'th. But there are a lot of them in the tunnels. We had to fight through them, I had to fight them too, but at least we were saving the people from the pain they were in. Why do these people suffer so much?

A long while later, I started to feel really tired. I can tell Hope and Sazh are feeling tired too. Zack stopped us for a break and I decided to ask the lifestream for some clue about what time it might be. I feel bad for asking such a small almost useless question, but it would be good to know. I closed my eyes to help me concentrate and heard some voices telling me it was night, just after the sunset.

"Guess we don't get to do any hunting, eh?" Snow joked.

"Might not for a while," Sazh added.

"Three days without water, five without sleep, and seven to ten without food," Zack said with a shrug.

"What?" Hope asked.

"Estimated survival time of an average person in ideal conditions. With your l'Cie powers, and my enhancements, we only need to worry about the whole food thing," Zack explained.

"The constant fighting will make us burn calories faster though," Hope pointed out.

"So I would say three to five days then," Sazh said to us.

"We got time," Snow said with a smirk and a wave.

"Let's get some sleep. It will help," I said to the group, they all looked at me "It's nighttime anyways."

~~~~Fang's POV~~~~

I feel numb. After we beat that Eidolon that appeared for Vanille, she told me everything. It was surprising and expected. She cried while telling but I just stood still and listened, didn't hug her or do anything to comfort her. Just stood there. She went and hugged Genny, he gave me and Angeal a look that said he didn't know how to react. I would have laughed if I was still trying to get over the fact that I was Ragnarok. I was the one to put that hole in Cocoon...

I'm amazed, proud of myself, and horrified that I did that.

"_My friend_," Genny started, prying Vanille off of himself "_The fates are cruel, there are no dreams, no honor remains, the arrow has left the bow of the goddess._"

"What?" I asked him quickly, I didn't quite understand him.

"When Lady Minerva chooses us for a task, we have little to no choice. So don't feel down about cracking the shell because it was not actually you that had completed the task," Genny explained. It made me feel kinda better.

"Funny, us from Pulse had our own goddess. Etro, the goddess of chaos," I said it with a smirk, for some reason.

"Pulse, Lindzei, Minerva, Etro. The Creator, the Protector, the Voice, and the Chaos. Four divine beings that gave our worlds life, yet only Minerva remains. What happened to or where the other three traveled is unknown," Genny said in his poetic and dreamy way. He's just about as girly as Vanille when it comes to these stories.

"So what's the point of sharing that little piece of fantasy, Genny?" I asked him.

"No story is not worth hearing, Fang," Angeal calmly told me "On that note, what are your stories? You know practically everything about us, Sephiroth, Zack, and Aerith. I believe it's only fair if you share your origin."

I felt the smile slide off my face. Next thing I knew I was staring at the wall just behind Angeal and I can hear my heart beating. It's been a long time since I've thought about that, how I became a hunter, started using the lance... How I wound up an orphan... Became a l'Cie...

I jumped a little when I felt something touch my shoulder. It's just Angeal's hand, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze. He used the side of his first finger to pull my face up to look at him. His eyes are very blue... Just like Puppy's and Genny's.

"We understand if it's a bit too painful to talk about right now. Especially after..." Angeal glanced over at Vanille then back to me "Learning what you did just now. You'll tell us later."

"Yeah," I said and heard Vanille say.

We started on our way through the tunnels again but I fell behind. I kept thinking about my life, what made me who I am, and how I was the one that became Ragnarok all those years ago. I put the hole in Cocoon, I killed thousands, maybe millions, of people... I'm just as bad as Sephiroth... Except, I most likely did it so Vanille wouldn't have to, Pretty Boy did what he did because he was angry. Then again... Wasn't I angry at Cocoon? Would things have been different if I-

"What's happened, happened. It's in the past, we can't change it but we can learn from it," Angeal said from beside me "I'm sure you had your reasons to become Ragnarok, most of which most likely revolved around protecting Vanille."

"Yeah, I'm sure they did," I forced a smile at Angeal but he gave me a look that said he knew it was fake.

"There are only two scenarios that force people to do things they would never do otherwise. When they have had everything taken away and are seeking revenge. The other is when their family is threatened. When those motivations converge, there is very little that can stop the person in question."

"So you're saying-"

"Lightning, Sazh, and Snow are our most powerful allies."

"What about Pretty Boy?" I felt a more honest smile on my face.

"Sephiroth was made to be incredibly powerful, but like all crafted items, he has limits. Not to mention, he fights for the sake of fighting. He has literally nothing to fight for, nothing to protect, nothing to keep him moving forward. He is fighting to save Cocoon from Jenova but..."

Why'd he just trail off?

"Something you're not telling us?" Not sure why I said us, Genny and Vanille were up ahead a decent distance. Come to think of it, why is Angeal confiding in me? I mean, I can keep secrets and pry them out of people but Angeal doesn't have much of a reason to share anything with me. Not that I'm complaining.

"It's not my place to talk about it. However, I think Vanille has fallen for Genesis' charm."

That didn't really surprise me, what did was what Angeal was calling charm "Not the first time Vanille has fallen in _love_ with a guy. Just means I have to scare off Genny," I replied with a smirk.

"Good luck with that. Genesis has that mystical mystery about him, not to mention his power and he's a warrior for Minerva, as he claims."

"Sayin' you don't believe him?"

"Not really, I just never believed in any religious or mythical beings. I didn't even believe in Jenova until I saw her for myself," Angeal gave a small chuckle at the end.

"Funny how things like that come back to bite us in the ass, eh?"

"Hilarious," we both laughed then started to catch up to Genny and Vanille.

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

Snow gave me his coat to be a bit warmer but I couldn't sleep so I just kept my head on Zack's shoulder. I kept thinking about the Cie'th and how they were people that were suffering. Because they were stuck between being alive and dead. Halfway into the lifestream. No wonder they always attacked us. I just wished that there was a better way to help them...

I wonder how the others are doing? Back on Gaia. Are they finally able to have normal lives? Have they noticed I'm gone? Has Cloud noticed that me and Zack are gone? Actually, thinking of Cloud, she kind of looks like Cloud. They also have the same kind of name. Has to be a coincidence. I mean, we're on a different world. How can it be anything but a coincidence? Kind of a mean joke to Sephiroth though.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I remember is waking up. I gave back Snow's coat and we kept going through the tunnels. We had to fight a lot more Cie'th but they didn't give us any trouble. At one point, the ground started to shake and I could hear a loud grinding noise. I became so loud that I couldn't hear anything else. But the sound soon started to quiet down.

"There's that Atomos again," Sazh said to no one.

"Sounds pretty close," Zack added.

"Well I hope he doesn't plan on stopping us," Snow joked.

"I doubt it, especially with Fang, Lightning, and Sephiroth around," Hope joked as well. We all laughed a bit at that.

I started to hear that whisper again. It quickly got a lot louder and sounded like it wasn't in as much pain and really aggressive. I was a bit afraid of what the whisper might belong to.

"That all ya got ya bastard!" I heard Fang shout from up ahead. We looked at each other then started running.

We entered a huge cave with four tunnels leading out of it. One across a really unsafe looking bridge, one to our right, and another to our left. But in the middle of the cave, at this end of the bridge, was a really big Cie'th. It was huge. One hand looked like it could pick up a car. Fang, Genesis, Vanille, and Angeal were fighting it. Zack and Snow ran up to help while me, Hope, and Sazh started casting spells.

The Cie'th was fast for a giant. It almost crushed Zack and Snow a few times, Fang and Genesis were too fast for it. It did hit Zack though, he was thrown over towards me so ran up to him and quickly healed him. He gave me a smile before getting back into the fight.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

Judging by the fatigue forcing itself into my muscles, I would say it's been approximately thirty-six hours since the tunnel collapse. It had been maybe twenty minutes since I have had to fight off a group of those ancient robots and for that, I was thankful. Between carrying Lightning, who is very light, and constant fighting, my left arm is getting rather sore.

I'm pretty sure that wound on Lightning's leg is also infected. She is sweating, although with the machines, lack of airflow, and my body heat, its not surprising, but its the trembling I'm worried – er – that is alarming. I don't get worried about others. I have cleaned the wound several times, but with all the dirt, dust, stagnant air, and the microscopic mineral powder from the mining, it's no surprise she has an infection. I had better find the others soon or I may have to-

Thankfully a gunshot distracted me. I looked down at Lightning, she had her weapon pointed out in front of me, and tracking the where the bullet would have traveled, I saw the robot with a bullet hole in its head. It was twitching on the ground as electricity jumped across the exposed circuts.

"You need to pay attention," Lightning said quietly, almost whispered.

"Says the one that hasn't done any fighting," I replied.

"Well if you get injured we're in serious trouble."

Shortly after that exchange, I stopped to take a break. Lightning fell asleep in my arms so I gently placed her on the ground and sat beside her. When she started to shiver I pulled off a glove and touched the back of my hand to her forehead and cheeks. Definitely an infection induced fever. I leaned back against the tunnel wall and stared up at the ceiling, pondering what I might have to say to the others if the infection got worse.

Lightning leaned against me in her sleep and trapped my left arm against my side. Several minutes later she gave a pained moan as woke up. I glanced down at the sound and wound up making eye contact with her. Her blue, just blue, eyes were partially closed, fatigue from the sickness, and many of her short spikes were plastered to her forehead from sweat. Not to mention dirt and grease from going a day or two, or more, without cleaning it. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was aware that my bangs were no longer peaked for the same reasons.

"Sephiroth," Lightning said, I grunted my response "What you said, about when we finally fight Jenova, we will beat her," I looked away from Lightning's blue eyes to the far wall.

"No, we won't. She is too powerful, has Cocoon as her hostage, and the entire military at her disposal," she grabbed my jaw and made me look at her.

"Then why would Minerva bring you here?"

"To be killed by Jenova. I must have done more than anger her with summoning Meteor and unleashing the Geostigma. But she couldn't kill me so she'll get Jenova to do it."

"Why would she get Jenova to kill you?"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. They both see me as a threat because I wouldn't die and can shake off Jenova's control so it wouldn't surprise me if they actually planned this together."

"Then why would Minerva also send Aerith?" I had no answer for that question so I went back to staring at the far wall but she made me look at her again "We will find a way, you'll see."

"What makes you so sure?" I was starting to get irritated but I didn't let it show.

"It won't be the first time many of us has done the impossible. Who else can say they brought themselves back to life three times?" She has a point...

"Let's get moving," I said as I stood up "We need to find the others to get that leg healed."

Seemingly hours later of carrying Lightning, fighting ancient machines, and breathing the foul air of these tunnels, I finally felt some sort of air flow. It was minimal, there wasn't actually any sort of breeze, but the air was minutely more fresh than before. I felt myself start to move faster at the prospect of being able to breath clean air and a few minutes later, the ground started to rumble.

I entered a large cavern with a large raised platform, a web of catwalks overhead, and a tower of scaffolding and ramps up to the catwalks. The rumbling was coming from a massive trench in the left side of the cavern and a few seconds later, a gigantic ball with red spines rolled through the trench, going into another tunnel and disappearing. That must have been Atamos.

I could see a tunnel similar to the one I just came out of on the other side of the raised platform and a large machine similar to the one I ran into in the Vile Peaks. It seemed to take notice of me and Lightning and I sensed it gearing up for battle. Throwing caution to the wind, I summoned Zalera and commanded it to take Lightning and find the others. Zalera took Lightning, flapped its wing arm, then flew over the machine, which watched the Eidolon fly over, and down the other tunnel.

I summoned the Masamune to my hand and threw myself at the machine just as it launched a large iron ball on a chain at where I had been standing. Just have to hold out until Zalera finds the others, then even though it will be rather painful, I can let this thing kill me and I can finally be released from all this.

**This would have been uploaded earlier if AK had warned me how hard it is to actually sit and write something. And how much harder it is to write something from a character's point of view. Other than that, I have university and a job so not much time.**

**As for AK returning to write this story, probably won't happen but don't lose hope. To quote him, its hard to write when the world falls to pieces around you when you're already depressed.**

**Please leave a review, and I will continue trying to get AK back.**


	34. Chapter 34

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

We finally beat that giant Cie'th. It was very tough but we were able to beat it, with the help of the Eidolons. I was more happy to find Vanille, Fang, Angeal, and Genesis. It's great to see that none of them are hurt.

"Good to see you're all in one piece," Angeal said with a smile to us.

"Right back at ya," Zack responded, with a smile.

"We had quite the time on our own. Vanille got her Eidolon," Angeal continued. I saw Fang and Vanille talking off to one side "And we had to fight through a horde of bird-like creatures and flans."

"Well we had to deal with Cie'th the whole time," Snow said, he sounded like he was trying to compete with Angeal.

"As wonderful as it is that we have been reunited, we are still missing two party members," Genesis said loudly.

"True enough, Red," Sazh said "Wonder if they are behind or in front of us though."

"That is a great question," Zack commented "But I have my own question. Genesis, if l'Cie, Pulse l'Cie at least, are Minerva's warriors, why do they turn into Cie'th?"

"It is a very simple answer, young Pup," Genesis looked behind me and one of his eyebrows raised up "Zalera?"

We all looked to where Genesis was looking and saw Zalera, Sephiroth's Eidolon. The creepy looking angel flew towards us and stopped before setting Lightning on the ground. She looked up at us and I could tell that she was sick, the sweat soaked hair was enough of a sign. Angeal was the first at her side though, he took off a glove a put his hand on her head.

"She has a fever," He looked down and examined her leg. I knelt beside him and looked under her skirt, it just looked odd to me and I saw the cloth tied around her thigh.

"She has an infection," I said to the others "Vanille, Hope, one of you cast Cure and the other cast Esuna," I told them, I was not used to giving orders "Angeal, please excuse us," He got out of Vanille and Hope's way. It only took a few minutes to get Lightning healed and when she was better, she took off the bandage around her thigh and shin.

"We have to go back," Lightning said as she summoned Odin.

"Hold on one second," I said to her "You had an infected injury, you need to rest. Just because we have these powers, it doesn't mean you don't have to rest to help an injury heal," I remember how back on Gaia we had to rest a lot even though we used the Materia to heal ourselves.

"No time, Sephiroth is fighting one of those big Pulsian machines," Odin transformed into a horse and Lightning jumped onto his back.

"A dreadnaught? Oh dear Etro, we have to go help him," Fang said.

We all looked at each other then Snow and Sazh summoned their Eidolons and made them go into their Gestalt forms. Hope and Fang went with Snow, Hope in front of Snow and Fang behind him, Vanille and me got on Odin with Lightning, Angeal, Zack, and Genesis climbed onto Sazh's car Eidolon, and Zalera flew over us. I guess we weren't worried about the tunnel collapsing anymore.

The tunnels just zoomed by while we were riding towards where Sephiroth was fighting. When we reached the cave where the battle was, couldn't hear it from further away because of the Eidolons, I saw a giant machine exactly like the one back in the Vile Peaks and Sephiroth fighting it. He looked over at us and just stopped fighting. It felt like the world went into slow motion. I saw him close his eyes and let the giant machine hit him. He flew into the tower of ramps and him hitting it made it collapse. His sword landed off to the side.

It was so loud because of the cave, the metal crashing together and breaking. I heard a few of the others shout for Sephiroth, but I'm not sure what they said, maybe his name. The tower falling apart and the shouting made me think of when Sector Seven fell, I had been safe in a helicopter but it was still a terrible thing to see and I felt like I was right back there, watching it again.

"Aerith!" I heard Zack shout. He was in front of me with his hands on my shoulders "You okay? You just... Went somewhere else," I gave him a smile to help him stop worrying. Wait a minute, when did I get off Odin? The others are fighting now too, how long was I in that memory?

"I'm okay, we have to help Sephiroth," I told him.

I used every thunder spell I knew on the machine, hoping to fry its circuits. I also kept up shields on everyone and healed when it was needed but focused on using the thunder spells. I kept looking over to the pile of metal, waiting for Sephiroth to just burst out and keep fighting. But he never did. Is it weird to worry about the well being of someone that killed you? I just answered my own question.

Like an hour later, Angeal ended the fight. He ran up to the robot, jumped into the air, his sword glowed a bit, then he came down and sliced the robot's head in half. His attack reminded me of the attack Cloud called Braver, for some reason. We waited a minute or two for the robot to start moving again and then rushed over to the pile of metal. Genesis used the corrupted Mako to move the metal on top of Sephiroth somewhere else.

Sephiroth had a whole bunch of poles and flat pieces of metal sticking through him. Vanille and me gasped, Hope sounded like he was gonna be sick, and everyone else huffed.

"He will heal, he has from every other wound," Lightning said, she sounded really sad.

"Only if he had the ability to. The rod that impaled his heart is what ended him," Genesis sounded so calm, almost like he didn't care.

"Then we have to-" Lightning stopped talking when Sephiroth's body started dissolving into that black mist. He was completely gone in less than a minute.

I don't feel sad. I feel... nothing about this. Is it right to feel nothing for Sephiroth? I mean he helped me and everyone else a whole bunch of times. But he did kill me. Did I hate him for that? Not consciously. If he didn't kill me I wouldn't have been able to help release Holy, or cure the Geostigma. I don't hate Sephiroth but why don't I feel sad about him dying?

"We move on," Angeal said from behind us.

"What?" Snow sounded insulted "One of our group just died. Your friend just died!"

"This isn't the first time he's died," Angeal almost laughed about that "And he was given a mission by Minerva. I say he'll be back with us by tomorrow. For now, we move on and I'll carry his sword," As he said that he grabbed Sephiroth's sword and carried it just like Sephiroth did back in Lake – uh – Bresha I think it was.

"Do not mourn those that laugh in the face of death," Genesis said before starting to catch up with Angeal.

"They got a point," Sazh said cheerfully.

"Just don't make us do the heavy lifting, Sephiroth!" Zack shouted and joked.

"Yeah, he'll be back soon," Lightning muttered when everyone else started to walk. She knows something we don't... What on Gaia could it be?

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

I will admit, getting crushed, impaled, and sliced up by a collapsing structure is one of the more painful ways to die. But not the worst. It really is not normal to start comparing ways I've died.

I woke up in a dark place. It was completely black but I noticed tendrils of the lifestream enter my vision. They twisted, curled, and convulsed around me at about waist height. I couldn't see below my knees but I could feel a very solid floor like surface. I reached down into the twisting thread like substance and it looked like it fled from my hand. Amusing. Feeling a gaze on me I turned around and was surprised.

Gold and silver armor over a white dress, with a large silver crest shape, almost an upside down Omega symbol, a very large shield, a tall staff with a sharp foot and ornate head, massive wing like structures with white cloth hanging off them, and a winged circle between them. The woman wearing the armor had golden blonde hair and eyes that drifted between green and blue, just like the lifestream. She looked to be about ten feet tall and miniscule at the same time. Difficult to judge her size under that armor.

"Minerva, I presume," I stated.

"I gave you a mission, Sephiroth," her voice is angelic but had no trace of kindness in it.

"Yeah, well, I quit."

"Do you really think you can say no to me?" I offended her. That was remarkably easy.

"Yes, I do. I was born of Jenova cells, and the corrupted lifestream is where I'm destined to rot. Last I checked, you have no control over that lifestream."

"Yet I was able to revive you and grant you a body,"

"Only because I wasn't dead enough for the lifestream to reject and send me into the corrupted."

"But this time you're throwing yourself into it?"

"Exactly. I'm done being a slave for people like you. You act all high and mighty but face it Minerva, you're just as petty as Jenova or Shinra," I made sure to use my most insulting tone.

"You insolent vermin! How dare you speak to me in such a manner!"

"What are you going to do to me? I'm already dead, and it's not the first time," I was making sure she knew I was not afraid of her.

"You are going back to Gran Pulse to complete the mission I gave you!"

"No," I replied flatly "You want Jenova dead, find someone else. Send Cloud. He beat me three times over, he won't even break a sweat against Jenova."

"I gave _you_ this mission and you are going to complete it."

"Why me though? You said it yourself, I've caused untold suffering, killed millions, and I'm mentally unstable. What kind of insanity drove you to choose me to fight Jenova over Cloud?"

"Do you really think I would have chosen you if I had an alternative?" Minerva shouted then immediately looked like she regretted saying that.

"No alternative? How am I a better choice than Cloud for such a _heroic_ task?"

"He is not destined to kill Jenova. It was decided long ago that you would be the one to kill her," something suddenly became very clear to me

"You never wanted me to change, did you?"

"No."

"You only wanted me to get branded, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I needed a leash on a rabid dog like you," Genesis talked about Minerva as if she was the epitome of kind and gentle. Good to know she is just as bad as the other people I've been a slave for.

"Why take my power then? Why give me Zalera?"

"I couldn't risk you infecting anyone else and Eidolons are my first and only warning about refusing to complete the mission I gave."

"There's no time limit on a Focus..." I said out of realization "You turn people to Cie'th if they go against you. You are just as bad as Jenova."

"This is war, Sephiroth. I thought the once great General would understand that," Out of nowhere, I laughed.

"I understand your position completely. You're desperate and I'm your ace."

"I'm sending you back to Gran Pulse in forty eight hours, when your body has been repaired," she sounded much more calm then a moment ago.

"No. I already said, I'm not going back. I'm done being a slave."

"I don't remember giving you a choice," Her dark tone actually made me flinch but I was not going to give into her as I did with Jenova.

"I recall you saying you have no alternative. So maybe you should consider meeting me halfway."

"Are you attempting to get me to obey you?" She is downright pissed now.

"Remove the brand and give back my power."

"Do humans take the leash off a dog merely because they don't like it? No, they make the dog learn to like it."

"You're going to break me? Jenova already tried, Minerva. Look what happened there."

"Jenova did not have people you care for to bargain with," That cut deep. And she was smug about having hostages.

"You bitch," it just slipped out.

"At any given moment, I can make anyone in that group turn Cie'th," Except for Angeal and Zack... And possibly Fang.

"You wouldn't dare," I growled at her.

"Three lives is better than millions. Sound familiar?" I couldn't believe she was willing to turn people into Cie'th just to make me fight, but at the same time I was not surprised in the slightest. Gotta love cognitive dissonance "So you do care for those people, interesting."

"Take off the brand and I will kill Jenova."

"I'm not removing the brand, Sephiroth, don't fall victim to another one of your delusions. You will do as I say because I hold your and your companions lives in my hand."

"Fine," I said roughly, there was no way I would win against Minerva. In this game, she had all the cards "A few questions though, why did you take my power, what did you do with it, and how did you remove it?"

"Can't fill a glass that's already full, sent it away, cut it out like a tumor."

"Guess I shouldn't have expected actual answers from you. The arrogance of beings that revere themselves as gods makes them obsessed with speaking in riddles," I think I can see some red getting into her face.

"Your body will be repaired in two days time. Think you can go that long without ruining someone's life?" Minerva attempted to insult me.

"Can you?" I replied simply. Minerva faded away after that and I was left to drift for two days.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

Angeal had taken the lead. He went from only supporting us with his materia to fighting with me and Fang, using the Masamune. Even though he was not nearly as fast me or even Fang, not even in the same league as Sephiroth, he was still a really good fighter. Everyone seemed surprised that Angeal could actually use that sword, honestly, it surprised me as well. Angeal just said that he had spent a long time studying Sephiroth's style.

I know that Sephiroth has come back to life before, or so they have said, but it's what he told me a couple of nights ago. How he had lost his will to continue and just wanted to fade away. I'm doubting he will come back this time and that's making me depressed. What kind of cruel twist of fate is this? The first man I got the classic or stereotypical... symptoms of _love_ with, gives up on life and lets himself get killed.

Aren't I the lucky one?

"Anyone else notice that?" Genesis asked, pulling me out of my thoughts, thankfully.

"Notice what?" Sazh asked back.

"The air is... different."

We all started walking slowly and I could hear a couple others sniffing the air. For about, I would say, three minutes, we moved slowly expecting any sort of threat to just jump out. Then again, with our enemy being Jenova, it could happen.

"Everyone quiet for a bit," Angeal said to us, so we all went still. A few seconds later, Zack spoke up.

"Water! Fresh air!" he shouted and just took off at a full sprint. Everyone but me laughed a bit.

"Angeal, you have to let your puppy outside more often," Genesis said in a very sarcastic tone.

We all laughed at that. Guess we all needed a little bit of humor right now, even if they were assuming Sephiroth's death was temporary. When we caught up to Zack, we got a bit more humor. Fang said the area we were in now was the Sulyya Springs and the first thing we saw was a soaking wet and shirtless Zack taking off his pants.

"Hi," he said casually when he saw us, with his pants around his ankles. Just glad he was still wearing his boxer shorts. I'm not sure why, but it's surprising to know that Zack is really muscular.

"There an explanation for this?" Angeal asked, he almost sounded worried.

"I took a swim," Zack said proudly with a smile as he finished taking off his pants and lay them on a rock. I just noticed that his boots were there as well and his shirt was hanging off his sword.

"Fully clothed?" Genesis asked. His tone said he didn't believe Zack in the slightest.

"They were dirty," he said with a shrug.

"And the sword?"

"Fiiiine!" Zack half yelled sadly "I slipped and fell. Happy?"

"Rather," Genesis said cheerfully, I heard Angeal sigh in disappointment. A few others laughed.

"A swim don't sound too bad right now," Fang said thoughtfully. I agree with her.

"I would like to take a swim," Aerith said.

"Me too!" Vanille added.

"In that case, us guys are going to go clear out that area over there," Angeal said while pointing at a large roundish area with a whole bunch of fish-like frog things.

After a nice, long, admittedly wonderful swim, and a half million warnings from Fang and Vanille about staying out of the deep places where a fal'Cie swam, we rejoined the others. Fang, Vanille, and Aerith, were talking about their hair, mainly Aerith's. Vanille went on and on about how nice it was and how she loved how long it was.

When we finally reached the campsite, the guys were just relaxing. Snow, Hope, Sazh, and Zack, were sitting in a small circle talking about something, Zack was still only in his boxers. Genesis was leaning against a rock reading a book, probably that Loveless he always quotes, and Angeal looked like he was examining shells.

"We're back, boys," Fang announced.

"Hey," Zack reply with a small wave "Hope spied on you while you were swimming."

"What?" Hope shouted from surprise, his whole face was red with a blush in an instant "I did not! I didn't, I swear!" Zack started laughing while Hope looked ready to die from embarrassment.

"Zack," Angeal said with a warning tone "We've talked about this."

"Huh? Oh... right," Zack sounded disappointed "Sorry Hope. I just couldn't resist."

"You're lucky I like you," Aerith said as she sat beside Zack, who looked confused "I would have smacked you for being mean to Hope like that."

"I take it Pup was a troublemaker?" Fang asked Angeal.

"Was," Genesis started "It took a long while, but we beat it out of him."

"At least we thought we did," Angeal added with a laugh.

"Why am I always in the center of these things?" Zack asked the roof.

"You bring it upon yourself," I said with a shrug.

"Hey, if it isn't you, it's me," Snow said with a chuckle. Zack wrapped an arm around Snow's shoulders and pulled him closer, in a friendly way.

"In that case, man, we have to stick together," Zack said in an... amusing tone.

"Oh, I'm all for teaming up, man," Snow said in an equally amusing tone, I was actually having a hard time keeping the smile off my face "But you have to at least be wearing pants before we team up," Zack look insulted, obviously fake.

"What if I like not wearing pants?" Snow looked beyond confused at that "Why don't you take off your pants?" Now Snow looked horrified, most of the others were laughing at Zack as he stood up and went into a _heroic_ pose "And then we shall be the mighty pants-less heroes!" That got some of us laughing hard, I turned away to let out my laughter "Not even the fearsome Jenova can deny the awesome, history changing power of our pants-less-ness!"

Zack continued to rant about the power of not wearing pants for a while. Genesis tried to hide his laughter behind his book and Angeal was trying to hide his in the same way I was. The laughter finally infected me and it felt good, great even. No, wonderful. We all had been depressed for so long, trying to hide one issue or another, or trying to deal with a more recent one, I forgot how nice it was to just laugh again.

**WAY more dialogue than earlier chapters... is that a good thing?** **I hope you liked it! I hope I did a good job on Sephiroth's POV, that took me a long time to write and I feel like I can still add to it. Anyways, I apologize if the ending of the chapter is a bit out there in left field but that last line should have redeemed it. I thought the story could use a little bit of humor.**

**Please leave a review!**


	35. Chapter 35

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

We spent an extra day in the springs. Everyone wanted time to relax and clean off from the time in Mah'habara, I was in total agreement with them. The day was spent sharing stories, well, Angeal, Genesis, and Zack did the sharing. They just talked about random events and times they had in SOLDIER which really made me question the level of discipline in SOLDIER.

The story about an argument between Genesis and Sephiroth escalating into a fifty person food fight was the main thing that me question this _Lazard's _level of authority.

When they shared the fact that they even had their own fan clubs, I would have doubted they were actual warriors if I hadn't already seen them fight. Then Genesis told us he actually had two fan clubs and Sephiroth's fan club was full of stalkers.

And then came the questions I was fully expecting.

"So how many did you guys bed?" Fang asked the SOLDIERs. I could hear her smile, the one she got when she knew she was being annoying. Angeal and Genesis looked at each other, obviously sharing some unspoken words.

"More than I will ever admit to," Genesis answered coolly.

"What Genesis said," Angeal answered quietly almost a minute later.

"What?" Zack shouted "No way!" It sounds like Zack didn't know how to react to that.

"I was a reckless young man, Zack. No reason to be so surprised," Angeal replied in his mentor tone.

"But you always said that honor and protecting the honor of others takes priority in all aspects of life!" Zack looked more than confused.

"Wisdom comes from past mistakes, Puppy," Genesis stated.

"I just can't believe that Angeal-" Zack went quiet and just zoned out.

"Sooo... How many brats do you think you have runnin' around?" Fang asked with that smile of hers.

"None," Genesis stated.

"None?" Sazh asked confused "You sound sure of that."

"There was a series of false paternity lawsuits against us, including Sephiroth," Angeal groaned at what Genesis said.

"Most of the claims were debunked by simply figuring out we were clear across the world at the supposed time of conception," Angeal started to explain "Everything regarding Sephiroth was thrown out because Shinra always had eyes on him when he was not in the Shinra building and proved it with video recordings from the Turks."

"And to quell the rest of lawsuits, Shinra publicly revealed that Angeal and I had been sterilized by the Mako infusion process," Genesis said like he was talking about the weather "Truth of the matter is, Shinra intentionally sterilized us because of our heritage."

"Remember what happened after that?" Zack asked with a large smile.

"Oh in the name of Gaia, don't remind me," Genesis said as he buried his face in his hands.

"What happened?" I heard myself ask, guess my curiosity got the best of me.

"A few weeks after Shinra's announcement, the media erupted with all manner of rumors about Genesis and Sephiroth being in a relationship," Angeal told us. I felt my eyes widen and everyone else started to laugh "I don't know what stroke of luck spared me the misery but I am glad it did."

"Yeah, you and Zack had a good laugh while I worked my hardest to disprove those rumors," Genesis almost had a frustrated tone.

"What did Pretty Boy do?" Fang pressed.

"He stopped going out in public and cut himself off from all forms of media," Angeal answered.

"That's one way to do it," Sazh commented.

Out of nowhere there was a sound of a rock shattering. We looked towards the noise and there was smoke coming out of a hole in the ground that was not there a moment ago. I knew we all had our weapons ready. The smoke poured out and then went into a human shape then it just became Sephiroth. He looked exactly the same as right before that machine hit him into that tower and without a word he went and got his sword.

"You've all had enough time to rest, let's get moving," Sephiroth said then just started walking away.

"Sephiroth," Genesis said to stop him "You've just been revived, shouldn't you take some time to rest?" Sephiroth turned to him, facing all of us.

There was something different in his eyes. Before he, well I guess died is the right term, but now there was a new shine in his eyes. There was a renewed fire in his eyes and my gut was saying that was not good. I am not sure what to think about this change.

"You forget who you're talking to," Sephiroth said in his usual tone before kept walking away.

We all followed him out of Sulyya Springs and we all instantly saw a massive tower. Judging by the top and the massive pipe looking structure near the tower, it had once been much taller. Zack made a comment about the Shinra building. There was only one path to the tower, along the top of a cliff that went down so far it was pitch black. At least the path was really wide. After fighting through a few packs of Gorgonopsids, Fang said something I had been thinking for a while.

"Why don't we jus' use the Eidolons to fly to Oerba?"

"The air is calm," Genesis answered, answering nothing.

"What does that mean?" Snow asked.

"Everywhere else we've been has had all sorts of creatures flying around, except here. Which means-"

"There is something in the air that even the wyverns fear," Sephiroth said, cutting off Angeal "Therefore, we walk."

So we fought through the remaining Gorgonopsids and found our way into the tower. It was dark and dusty but the middle was open and had a forty foot statue in the center. It was a man and a woman, standing back to back, the woman had an outfit similar to Fang's and two small swords on her hips. The man looked to be wearing some kind of armor, his hair fell over the right side of his face and he was holding a giant sword tip to the ground beside him. I don't even know how to start describing that weapon, but in proportion, it looks like it would have been the size of the Buster Sword. Looks like the statues once had color.

"Who are they?" Aerith asked Fang.

"The champions of Cocoon and Pulse," Fang said "Their story is kind of interesting. Once upon a time Cocoon and Pulse were actually able to play nicely and... uh... Vanille? You take this," I saw Vanille roll her eyes at Fang then continue with a smile.

"It was during that time of peace that people started to distrust each world. Civil wars broke out because of leaders disagreeing on what to do with the other world. Both Cocoon and Gran Pulse were suffering because of the battles so Pulse and Lindzei each chose a champion, and made them immortal, to end the fighting. The champions," Vanille motioned to the statue "Did as they were told but those on Cocoon became afraid of a united Gran Pulse because there was ten times the people here than up there. Lindzei's champion came down to Gran Pulse and challenged Pulse's champion. It was agreed that the victor would be given dominion over both worlds," I looked around and saw that everyone but me and Sephiroth were interested in this story "They fought for decades and neither came close to beating the other, so they stopped fighting and decided to rule both worlds together. Cocoon and Pulsian people worked together to build Taejins Tower to be the throne of the two worlds and the champions ruled for a thousand years. They eventually had a daughter but she was not given the gift of immortality."

"That's so sad," Aerith commented. Vanille didn't keep telling the story after Aerith's interruption.

"What happened?" Genesis asked, obviously annoyed that the story had not been finished.

"I don't know. The rest of the story was lost," Vanille said with an apologetic smile.

"Someone has been through here," Sephiroth said from somewhere else. We all looked around, just noticing that he had wandered off. We followed his voice around the statue to a raised platform which was the base of some kind of track going straight up through the tower.

"What?" Angeal asked when we got close.

"Someone has been through here," Sephiroth repeated.

"You sure? I mean, we haven't seen any sign of people since we came to Gran Pulse," Snow pointed out.

"The dust has been disturbed recently. There is also this," Sephiroth held up a long dark hair for us to see.

"You sure that's recent? Zack asked, Sephiroth just glared at him and pulled a lever next to the track.

A chime sounded and a ball shaped thing came down the track and stopped in front of us and opened. We all packed in which left very little room.

"Well isn't this comfy," Fang joked. We rode the elevator in silence. When we finally reached the top of what's left of the tower, we all quickly got out and I kind of wanted to go back down.

Jenova was her on the tower, running her hand over a dead... thing. I have no idea what it was. Looks kind of like a large statue thing with two arms and faces. Oh. It's a fal'Cie, a dead one at least. Jenova had her back to us but none of us made a move.

"Dahaka!" Vanille squeaked.

"You're all so quick to jump to conclusions. I did not kill this being," Some kind of smoke started to pour out of Jenova's arm and into Dahaka "But you will need to," She laughed and vanished into the smoke.

Dahaka lifted off the ground and looked at us, its eyes glowing bright red. Just like Jenova's.

~~~~Fang's POV~~~~

The moment Dahaka was in the air, I felt Angeal cast some protection on me, and the others I'm assuming. Genny put out his wing and flew up to keep Dahaka's attention while the rest of used what magic we had. Not all of have wings so we can- Wait a second.

I summoned Bahamut and everyone else got their Eidolons out. Zalera and Bahamut have it easiest in this fight since they're both fliers. But us ground-users are gonna have a tough time.

With eight Eidolons beatin' on him, undead Dahaka didn't last very long. He was knocked to the ground and Pretty Boy pushed his sword into the fal'Cie's eye. Pretty Boy pulled his sword out then slammed his fist into the eye and somethin' weird started to happen. Dahaka, like, dissolved into Pretty Boy's arm, turned into that smoke and little greenish-blue lights and went into Pretty Boy's arm. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen.

"What just happened?" Hope asked, everyone could hear the fear in him.

"An extreme example of Sephiroth's blessing from Jenova," Genny told us "The fal'Cie are little more than constructs of the lifestream, Sephiroth possesses the ability to absorb that energy."

"So Sephiroth has just jumped ahead of us in power then," Muscle Head said in his cheerful tone. I'm not sure if he is stupid or just recovers faster than the rest of us.

"Stop gawking and get moving," Pretty Boy commanded as he walked over to the ruins that made a platform up to an elevator track.

It took a long time for the elevator to reach us but the wait was much better than having to crowd into the damned thing. Puppy and Muscle Head made a few jokes on the trip but everyone was still uncomfortable. When we finally stopped and the door opened, we almost fell over each other trying to get out but we all tried to hide that. It made me laugh.

We walked through knee high grass for about two hours until we saw anything. It was a Cie'th but it was still something. Then there were more Cie'th, a lot more. After a long time of fighting them, we went over a hill and found ourselves in one of Oerba's orchards. I'm happy to see they are still growing. I grabbed two of the purple apples off a tree and tossed one to Vanille. The others grabbed one for themselves.

"Wow, these are delicious," Sazh said.

"Yeah, the stupid trees make good apples," I said back.

"Stupid trees?" Angeal asked. I knew he was suspecting something but I couldn't decipher what.

"Yeah, the damned things grow fruit at random through the year," The moment I finished talking, Pretty Boy, Puppy, and Angeal had their swords on Genny.

"You have some explaining to do," Sephiroth said in a dark tone.

"Coincidence?" Genesis said sarcastically.

"Genesis, why are there Banora White trees on Gran Pulse?" Angeal's threatening tone scared me more than Pretty Boy's.

"Don't deliver threats Angeal, you're not the kind of man that would deliver on them," Pretty Boy moved his sword to Genny's neck and a drop of blood appeared "Sephiroth, however, is more than happy to be your hound," The darkness appeared around Genesis and he was safely away from the swords "There was a time when Gaia and Gran Pulse were one in the same."

"What does that mean?" Puppy asked loudly.

"Silence, Pup," Genny commanded "Before the Cetra-"

"The Cetra? I know their story!" Vanille cheered.

"Wonderful, anyways, before the Cetra lost their capitol to Jenova's corruption, they prayed to Lady Minerva and asked for her assistance. With Lady Minerva's unwilling assistance, and the sacrifice of the vast majority of the people, the Cetra split the world in two. Gaia was meant to quarantine Jenova and let the infection burn itself out while Gran Pulse was supposed to stand guard and the the last stronghold was supposed to produce an army to stand against the inevitable second rising of Jenova."

"That plan worked out great," Lightning reply as an insult. I'm starting to grow fond of Sunshine's sense of humor.

"Humans have short lives and shorter memories," Genny tried to continue but then Puppy interrupted.

"What about the fal'Cie on Gaia?" Genny growled at Puppy for jumping in like that.

"Because of the Jenova infection, they grew feral and to preserve some semblance of order, Minerva took their power to make l'Cie and collared the beasts."

"The WEAPONs..." Angeal said quietly.

"Are feral fal'Cie," Genny finished for him "To continue, two thousand years gave Jenova enough time to corrupt more and seep through the cracks in the boundary," Genny continued but Muscle Head interrupted.

"The boundary?" Genny let out an annoyed sigh at Muscle Head

"The border between Gaia and Gran Pulse that only the lifestream can cross. Going back to what I was saying, it was not just Jenova that got through. When Doctor Crescent found Chaos in that cave, and combined it with the young Valentine, it caused a breach in the boundary that allowed Jenova to create that Jihl persona some years later. However, Jenova passing through the boundary caused a shift in the balance which pushed a handful of people from Cocoon to Gaia. Most of whom are unimportant but the people of interest are Miss Averia Farron and her firstborn.

"What?" Sunshine sounded like she'd seen a ghost "My father said they died in an accident."

"Easier to say that than explain they vanished before his eyes. When they appeared on Gaia, they was just outside a backwater reactor town and Miss Farron changed her name to Aver-" Genny was interrupted by a branch near his head exploding and a gunshot.

We all dropped to the ground and Genny made that darkness cover the ground below us and moved us into Oerba. Somehow we wound up standing while in the darkness. But we're finally back in Oerba. It looks almost exactly the same as I remember it, which means it's been abandoned for who knows how long. The school, the shop, the beach, all look the same, with a lot more grass around the bottom but the same. The railroad looks like it took one hell of a beating though.

"Aerith?" I heard a woman ask.

"Sephiroth!" A man yelled "Those people are just more of his tricks!"

I spun around and saw what I had been missing. My team in a stand off with another group. There was a woman with dark hair and no weapon (and big boobs), an older guy with a spear, an animal thing, a black guy with a gun arm (strange but not the weirdest thing I've seen), a girl with a huge throwing star, two children (one boy, one girl), and a guy with blond hair and a sword like Angeal's but it had handles in the blade which is very odd. A second look told me something else about this group.

"They're Sanctum l'Cie," Muscle Head muttered sadly.

Boobs had a brand in the same place as Snow, Blondie had one in the same place as Lightning, Gun-Arm same as Sazh, that might be a brand poke'n out of Old Man's tee shirt sleeve which would put his in the same place as mine. Animal had a brand on its front left shoulder, and I can't see the others.

"Cloud, lis-" Pretty Boy was cut off by the other group charging at us.

**Sorry about the wait and the length. I couldn't think of a way to bolster the part with Taejin's Tower and I'm not that good at battle scenes. Now for an announcement.**

**The original AbyssKeeper is back. I, Nate, wrote Fang's POV. Sorry about the let down of a battle scene but what do you expect from eight people with Eidolons? For them to play by video game rules? Anyways, what did you all think of that cliffhanger? I hope all the information presented in this chapter makes up for the length reduction.**

**Oh yeah, there is only like 5 chapters left. Could be anywhere from 3 to 7. Also, when I upload the next chapter I'm changing the title of the story to "When Dreams Turn to Prayers" I think it encapsulates the story a bit better.**

**As always, please leave a review.**


	36. Chapter 36

**Get ready, a lot of POV changes are going to happen through the first part of this chapter.**

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

When the group charged at us, I wound up against the dark haired woman. She fought with her fists and was incredibly fast, good thing I'm known for being faster but she was able to dodge all my slashes. With a spin she kicked my sword away from me so I engaged her with my fists. But I barely managed to hit her and she wasn't able to hit me. She did get one hit in, though. Right into my chest and it felt like a rib or two cracked.

There was a loud crash that sounded like something metal slamming into the ground. Me and the brawler woman looked towards it and saw the blond man's weapon was in ground, right through the bricks, and Sephiroth was recovering from landing or blocking a hit. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, I dove forward and tackled the dark haired woman.

I got in a couple of good hits on the woman's face before she kneed me in the back, right in the spine. I fell onto her and she flipped me and had me pinned in a second, but she as too low so I headbutted her and slipped between her legs. Standing up behind her, I punched her as hard as I could right in the middle of her back, but she rolled when she fell forward. The instant she was on her feet, she tried to spin kick me so I raised my arms to block it. I was knocked down from the sheer force behind her kick. She jumped and tried to dive punch me, something I thought only Snow would do, I rolled to the side and the ground cracked when her fist hit it.

Quickly getting to my feet, I swung again at her and she jabbed at me. We wound up hitting each other in the face at the same time and we both fell probably from almost knocking each other out. How in the hell is she so strong? I mean she hits almost as hard as a damned Behemoth. Both of us were a bit wobbly getting back to our feet but neither of us were close to finished.

~~~~Fang's POV~~~~

I charged the guy with the spear because I thought it would be an interesting fight. Turns out I was right, he was a pretty good fighter but no one can beat Yun Fang in a spear fight. I am THE greatest spear fighter alive, if this old blonde guy thinks he can beat me...

Whoa! He almost got close to me right there. Hope he enjoyed that, because it ain't gonna happen again.

Blocked a couple more swings from him and after he sent a thrust, I caught his spearhead in the claw of my lance and swung it down holding his spear down and stopping me from using my spear.

I looked at the old blonde guy and he looked like he was a bit tired.

"You okay, Oldy?"

"Jus' taken' it easy on ya. Don' feel right hittin' a lady," he has an interesting accent, kinda funny really.

"Is that so?" I said slowly "Well yer about to have yer ass kicked by a lady!"

I pulled my spear up and slashed at the old guy but he moved pretty quickly to dodge it. Pretty fast for an old guy. We clashed for a while and I came close to slashing him a couple times, he wasn't even close to me. He tried to spear me in the gut so I hit it away without thinking and next thing I know I'm seein' stars and having trouble standing. He must'a hit me upside the head with the other end of that spear after I deflected the blade. After figuring that out, I charged at him with a growl.

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

This is terrible. We shouldn't be fighting, we should be united against Jenova but Cloud, Tifa, and the others won't ever work with Sephiroth because of what he has done. But Jenova used him to do all those things, Jenova is the real villain here. She has to be messing with one of our groups but it's impossible to tell which one... Maybe both of our groups...

Sephiroth and Cloud were fighting all over the place, that is the fastest and hardest I had seen Sephiroth fight so far. And Cloud was fighting just as hard and fast. Lightning and Tifa were fist fighting and Lightning's sword was laying on the ground. Fang is fighting Cid, that hit Fang took sounded really bad, she's definitely gonna have a headache after that. Genesis and Yuffie were fighting, Angeal was against Barret, Zack is fighting Nanaki, and Snow and Sazh were attacked by Vincent a bit later (he was probably the one that shot at us). I was staying back with Hope and Vanille, and Marlene and Denzel were staying far back. I'm happy the kids were out of the fighting area but I can't believe even they were made l'Cie, that's the only possible reason for them being here too.

I wanted to tell everyone to stop fighting but Cloud's group won't stop fighting until Sephiroth is dead, even if most of them are killed. And my group are fighting because they attacked us and they're Sanctum l'Cie, as Snow said. This is a lose-lose situation, there is no way out of it.

Sephiroth knocked Cloud back and he jumped and kicked off a building. His sword had a blue mist around it and then he came down, looking like he wanted to cut Sephiroth in half. Sephiroth's sword glowed white a bit and he blocked Cloud's hit. Some kind of shock wave came from them and knocked some of the groups down and made the rest of us stumble a bit. Both swords weren't glowing anymore but Cloud and Sephiroth stood there with their swords locked. Everyone else was in a face off with who they were fighting.

"Why are you here?" I heard Cloud growl.

"Why should I answer? You will only accuse me of lying," Sephiroth answered, obviously making Cloud angrier.

"It wasn't enough for you to destroy Nibelheim and Midgar!? You have to destroy a different world!?"

"I'm here to save this world," Sephiroth said calmly. Cloud started to attack and their fight took them away from the middle of the groups.

"Tifa, listen to me," I begged "I'm not an illusion, I'm actually here! The lifestream revived me! Please, please believe me."

She looked like she was surprised but shook her head and had her calm battle expression back.

"No, you're just one of _his_ illusions," Obvious who she means by _his_.

"Tifa-" Before I could say any more, everyone started fighting again.

There is no way out of this fight, they won't listen to me.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

The one I'm assuming to be Tifa got a sucker punch on me, which split my lip, but as I staggered back I also got in a good hit. We brawled for much longer, every punch from her was surprisingly strong, stronger than Fang and possibly Snow. I could hear Fang getting frustrated with her fight and everyone else was fighting really hard. A part of me was wondering how long we were going to have to fight.

Tifa tried to tackle me but I was able to slip through her grasp and flip her over my shoulder. I elbow dropped onto her then tried to pin her but she was fast. She kicked my leg, probably trying to break my knee or at least injure it, and I punched her in the face with a right hook. A loud crash distracted us both, it turned out to be the blond guy with the big sword crashing into a house. The wall he hit was pretty damaged and he stumbled when he slid to the ground.

Sephiroth charged at him and the blond guy, Cloud I guess, sprinted over to Angeal and took the sword off his back. Angeal looked behind himself and shouted something at Cloud but was instantly punched in the face by the other guy's robotic fist, Angeal went to retaliate but the robotic hand changed into a large gun looking thing and Angeal froze. I didn't see anymore because Tifa decided to start fighting me again.

~~~~Genesis' POV~~~~

When this grand battle began, I chose to engage the girl of Wutai origin. She was remarkably fast and agile, quite easily rivaling either Zack or Angeal which is amazing no matter how one examines the fact. I guess the rumors about Wutai's superior warriors are actually based on fact and not just rumors to dissuade invaders, as if that made Shinra hesitate though.

During our fight, I noticed Cloud Strife pluck the Buster Sword right off Angeal's back and begin dual wielding the large swords against Sephiroth. The moment Angeal started staring down the lethal end of Barret's unusual gun, I knew I had to act and quickly.

The Wutaian girl, Yuffie Kisaragi I believe her name is, threw her oversized shuriken towards me once again and I saw my chance. With a flourish, I used my blade to catch the throwing star and propel it at Barret's gun. One of the four large blades of the shuriken easily pierced through the mechanical arm, effectively destroying the arm and eliminating the risk to Angeal. Angeal tackled the Barret and I turned my attention to the now weapon devoid Yuffie. With little effort expended, I had the girl surrender at sword point.

Angeal swiftly defeated Barret, now that he had one arm, Zack had the beast Nanaki pinned, Fang and Captain Highwind and Lightning and Tifa were in a face off. Those four are too evenly stubborn to forfeit an obviously lost fight. Vincent Valentine was the only member of AVALANCHE that had defeated the members of our group he was fighting but the gunslinger was wise enough to surrender after seeing how many of his group was defeated. Now there is only Cloud left to defeat and Sephiroth seems to be doing well with that task.

Young Strife had his Fusion Blade and the Buster Sword against Sephiroth's Masamune blade and Strife looked to be at a loss for his next action. I noticed his brand shine momentarily and he was enveloped it an azure mist of sorts. His Fusion blade shone a dull gold before splitting into the five component and base blades. Sephiroth pushed himself back and I felt my eyes widen at the sight. Strife standing with the Buster Sword at the ready with six azure mist silhouettes at his sides, each with one of the swords from the Fusion Blade. An elongated moment slipped by as Sephiroth and Cloud commenced a stare down then Cloud and his silhouettes charged.

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

Sephiroth was able to defend against Cloud and his six uh... shadows I guess. I am amazed that Sephiroth can block all those attacks because I can barely even see Cloud or his shadows when they charge and attack. We all just kind of stood there and watched while Sephiroth and Cloud fought, I think it's mostly because none of us wanted to be hit by accident.

That fight eventually ended though, with another one of those shock waves. Except this time we were all thrown off our feet. When I sat up I saw Sephiroth on one knee in front of Cloud and he had one of the smaller swords through his side. Cloud was holding Zack's – uh – Angeal's sword and just glaring at Sephiroth.

"You're nothing but a fading memory, Sephiroth," Cloud said and Sephiroth started to laugh quietly but we could hear it because of how quiet it was. Sephiroth stood up and pulled the sword out of his side. The hole in his side healed pretty quickly, first time I actually saw Sephiroth's healing ability.

"Nice trick Minerva, had me convinced until now," Sephiroth said loudly while looking at the sky. I know we were all confused.

A really big gold symbol appeared behind Cloud and it moved backward, making a really tall person appear. It is a woman with golden blonde hair and blueish-green eyes and she had a white dress with a gold armor-like cover, armor, a big U shaped thing right below her face, really big.. uh... things on her shoulders and a winged circle thing behind them. She had a really pretty staff and a shield and the she was like ten feet tall.

"Lady Minerva," I heard Genesis say respectfully. I... didn't know how to react. I'm less than twenty feet away from a goddess and I'm dumbly staring at her.

"Tell me, Sephiroth," Minerva's voice is beautiful and angelic but it didn't sound like the one that I heard before I woke up but I don't remember it that well "What enlightened you to the truth of this trial?" Minerva waved her staff and all of AVALANCHE just faded away.

"That was a trial!?" Sazh shouted.

"Cloud would not have stopped fighting me until I was dead or he was sure I had been defeated. He would never let down his guard to deliver a quip," Sephiroth told Minerva.

"Clearly I underestimated your knowledge of your nemesis."

"Now tell us the reason for that delay," Sephiroth said to Minerva, almost interrupting her.

"I needed to reinforce a fact you all are purposely blinding yourself to. If this war, that has been raging since times long forgotten, were a game, all players can use all the pieces on the board. Do not assume you are safe from Jenova merely because I chose to use you at this time."

"So we're just pawns to you?" Lightning asked. I could hear the anger in her voice. Minerva turned and looked right at her.

"Precisely."

"What gives you the right to make us your slaves!?" Snow shouted.

"I allowed the lifestream to breath a soul into your body. My interest is preserving the entirety of the lifestream. The concerns of eleven do not and never will outweigh millions of lives, so watch your-"

"Minerva," Sephiroth said loudly "I challenge you."

"What?" She sounded surprised and annoyed that Sephiroth interrupted her.

"I challenge you to a duel. No magic, just flesh and steel."

"I assume you are expecting some sort of wager," Sephiroth smiled when Minerva said that.

"If I win, you restore me to my former full power and remove the brand," Sephiroth said.

"And if I emerge victorious, you will follow my orders without question," Minerva had a very small smile when she said that.

"No way!" Snow and Zack shouted.

"Deal," Sephiroth said with a straight face.

Another big gold symbol appeared above Minerva and moved down. When it passed over Minerva it made most of her armor disappear and she was made shorter. She is now about as tall as Lightning, has dark blue with gold trim steel boots, a knee length white skirt, a white shirt that showed the middle of her chest from her waist to her neck, dark gloves with white cloth her elbows, shoulder armor like her boots, and a fancy tiara-like thing on her forehead which probably wrapped around her head. She was holding a white and gold sword in her right hand and a smaller version of her shield was on her left arm.

Minerva attacked first and Sephiroth dodged then attacked but Minerva blocked with her shield. That's about as much as I could see clearly since after that they started fighting really fast. Minerva kept pushing forward to keep Sephiroth on defense. She spun a lot as she fought, I think it was to just show off. Minerva hit Sephiroth a few times, just small cuts on his arms, and she did hit him in the face with her shield once but Sephiroth didn't slow down at all.

Some kind of rumble went through the ground, and I was the only one that felt it. No one else started looking at the ground. A few minutes later the rumble happened again and Minerva started fighting harder. She kept hitting Sephiroth more and more, and he never hit her, I know we all could see that. Then suddenly, Sephiroth held up his hand.

"I concede." I know none of us were expecting Sephiroth to say that.

"I accept your admittance of defeat," That gold symbol appeared below Minerva, moved up, and she was back to what she looked like at first "Now Sephiroth, I am giving you a new objective. Jenova's infection has spread much further through Cocoon than we could possibly hope to purify. Your mission, Sephiroth, is to kill Orphan."

"What?" Lightning, Snow, Hope, and Sazh, shouted together.

"Everyone on Cocoon will die!" Snow shouted at Minerva.

"That is the expected outcome," Minerva said back.

"But you're the voice of the lifestream," I told her, didn't mean to "If Cocoon falls... Well it will be just like Meteor."

"Jenova's infection of corruption is spreading all throughout the world. Etro is missing, Lindzei is being corrupted to serve Jenova, and Pulse is dying. Even now I feel my power slipping away, little by little," Minerva sounded like she was about to cry "The once endless light of the infinite souls in the lifestream is growing dimmer as more and more spirits are consumed by Jenova. She turned Gaia into a cancerous burden upon Pulse and is now working to transform Cocoon into a self sufficient Mako Reactor."

"How will killing Orphan and destroying Pulse help anything?" Fang yelled, she sounded sad and angry.

"If Lindzei and Pulse die, it will awaken our father, the true Creator, Lord Bhunivelze. He alone possesses the power to destroy Jenova and remake the world."

"So to kill Jenova, everyone has to die?" Lightning asked. Minerva just nodded.

"Is there any possible alternative, Lady Minerva?" Genesis asked, he sounded just as depressed as I felt.

"There is one possibility. But it requires both the White and Black Materia. With those it might have given the ability to contain the core of Jenova as they once had millennia ago."

"Can you get us the White Materia?" Zack asked, he sounded really hopeful and Minerva shook her head slowly.

"It was lost after Meteor Fall. Now get some rest, warriors of life itself. Take time to recuperate and devise a plan of attack against Cocoon. But heed this warning, Jenova has had centuries to build her defense and she was able to to stop even Ragnarok."

And then Minerva started to dissolve into those little green lights of the lifestream. I could feel how depressed everyone was feeling.

"Wait, Minerva," Lightning said "What happened to my mother?" Minerva looked over at Genesis for a second.

"She appeared near Corel then moved to Midgar where she lead an unremarkable life and was lost in the Sector 7 incident. Your elder sibling, however, was only ever known as Cissnei."

"What?" Zack almost yelled. Then Minerva fully disappeared into the greenish lights of the lifestream. After she was gone, that gold and silver airship that saved us from the Palamecia appeared, I guess it's Minerva's way of getting us back to Cocoon.

"So after everything, you're just going to roll over and do what you're told?" Angeal said more than asked I looked over and saw he was talking to Sephiroth.

"It's all I have ever done in life. Why should it change now?" Sephiroth calmly said back.

"We always have a choice, Sephiroth," Angeal said "Even if they are hard to see, the choices are always there."

"I'm sorry to say this, Angeal," Genesis spoke up "But we are firmly in the middle of no win situation. On one hand, we destroy Cocoon to awaken the Creator. On the other, we oppose Minerva and Jenova consumes everything."

"Thanks for the motivation," Fang said sarcastically.

"I'm just trying to be realistic," Genesis shot back.

"Our points of view or disposition don't matter," Sephiroth said loudly to get our attention "In three days time, I am going up to Cocoon to kill Orphan. I suggest you all take that time to make peace with each other and consider where you stand. I will respect your choice regardless of what it might be, I just ask that you don't try to stop me or change my mind because neither is possible."

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

For the thousandth time, Sephiroth just walked away after telling us something rather devastating. Angeal and Genesis also walked away, probably to talk about what to do, and Genesis said something in another language, most likely a curse or insult judging by his tone. Fang and Vanille went in another direction and everyone else went in a third direction. I just stood there and watched everyone go. I have no idea what to do. I want to save Serah but that's not possible anymore... I'm so sorry Serah...

I felt water splash against my boot, and quickly soak through, and that pulled me out of a daze I hadn't known I was in. How long have I been just aimlessly wandering? The sky is starting to change color to dusk so it must have been a while. I looked out over the water and wished I didn't. The setting sun, calm waters, and light sands, immediately brought up memories of Bodhum. It made me think of the morning and evening runs I used to take, the odd times I went to the beach with Serah, and the long ago times of going to the beach with our dad. As hard as they tried to get out, I held back tears of regret.

"Not with the others?" Sephiroth. I felt fire rush through my veins at his voice.

"I used to think you were actually a respectable leader," I didn't mean to let so much hatred into my voice.

"I'm tired of playing a game I can't win," He said back simply. I spun around to face him.

"So you just give up and let them push you around?" I was yelling, that surprised me.

"As Genesis said, we are in a no win situation."

"Stop making excuses you coward!"

"Coward?" he raised his eyebrow.

"A real brave warrior would find that other choice that Angeal talked about!"

"Bravery is one part courage and three parts stupidity. I am taking the most logical course of action."

"By bending over and doing what Minerva tells you?" I yelled up at him, I was just inches away from him. When did I walk so close? "You no leader or hero, you're not even a warrior," I hissed that last part.

"I am far beyond any of you in terms of skill."

"You're a soldier, a living weapon. You need a fighting spirit to be a warrior," that is the most hate filled glare I have ever seen.

"Care to repeat that?"

"You get pushed around and told what to do because you don't have a fighting spirit," I'm actually surprised I'm still on my feet "You're afraid of taking responsibility for the consequences of a choice that you make," His glare lost some of the hatred in it, I'm guessing he thinks its a coincidence I said the same thing that his teacher once said "And I know what else your afraid of."

"Oh really?" He crossed his arms, still glaring at me "Enlighten me then, if you have such insight into my being."

"You hate everyone because only a handful of people have actually shown you any kindness and they left you," Sephiroth laughed. He actually laughed at me.

"That's rich," He turned and started walking away.

"Gast didn't want to leave you," Sephiroth froze in place. I was fully expecting to have to dodge an attack from him.

"How do you know about that?" His tone was normal but his hands balling into fists told me to speak carefully.

"Before Mah'habara, when Jenova attacked you. I accidentally used the Black Materia and got inside your memories."

"How much did you see?"

"Gast, Hojo, the tests, your teacher," I paused for a moment "Everything bad up until you asked why Gast didn't tell you, in Nibelheim," Neither of us said anything for a minute or two "You're afraid of being alone but you keep everyone out because you're afraid of getting hurt again," He turned around and looked me in the eye.

"Don't act like-"

"I probably know you better than anyone else now, Sephiroth."

"You know nothing!" I must've hit a nerve.

"Those wounds won't heal if you ignore them, Sephiroth. You have to let someone help you," I just realized that I need to take my own advice.

"I don't need any help! I am not weak!"

"It's not being weak, Sephiroth! It's being human!"

"Then who am I supposed to turn to? Who can I possibly tell about the torture I endured as a child?" He didn't show it but from, pretty much raising Serah, I knew he was falling apart.

So I stepped forward and hugged him. Feels just as awkward as the first time since he's so much taller than me.

"For what it's worth, we're all here for you, Sephiroth," I looked up at and into his green eyes "I'm here for you."

We stared at each other for a little while and then I felt myself push myself onto my toes and I let my eyes close.

~~~~Genesis' POV~~~~

"_Legend shall speak, of sacrifice at world's end. The wind sails over the water's surface; quietly, but surely_."

"It is a shame they waited until now." Angeal mournfully remarked.

"I am just glad they ceased their dance. But yes, it is unfortunate that they have such little time to explore the most complicated but profound emotion."

"Regardless, I am happy for him. After everything that he has gone through, it's good that he got a taste of happiness." Angeal's voice held a hint of mirth.

I looked out over the water, a fiery orange color of dusk adorned the surface of the lake. The waves gently lapped the beach which had been formed into miniscule rolling dunes from centuries worth of wind. With the exception of the craters caused by the footfalls of the two soldiers now standing in an embrace.

"I'm heading back. Don't really want to find out what would happen if they caught us watching."

"That is a provoking thought. Let us be off then, my midnight haired friend."

**Sorry about the wait, I got lazy and my friends were determined to keep me distracted. Plus the fights in this chapter were hard to write from a first person perspective. Anyways, there is going to be a part 2 to this. It would have been included with this chapter but I thought I should upload something.**

**Please leave a Review and feel free to request an improvement on the fights, though I'm not too sure on how I can make them better.**


	37. Chapter 37

_Oerba, Part II_

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

I opened my eyes as I felt a breeze across my face and saw a ceiling fan that looked like it didn't work, judging by the angle it was hanging at, and a ceiling. Took me a second longer then it should have for me to realize I was laying on a bed and that my right arm was a bit sore. The window in the wall facing the lake was open, allowing the breeze which a very unique scent. It wasn't flowers, or that 'smell of nature' it was... I don't know how to describe it. I moved to sit up and I heard a light groan.

Looking towards the groan, I saw Lightning... asleep... using my right pectoral as a pillow... her right arm is around my middle, her right leg is draped over mine, and my right arm is around her. Her white coat was out of sight, as was her weapon and it's sheath, but thankfully every other clothing article was still in place on us both. For a brief moment, I was entirely confused as to why we were like this, then it came back to me.

Dusk yesterday, on the beach, Lightning kissed me. It was awkward because she is a full foot shorter than me and I just stood there at first but then my hands, by their own volition, landed on her hips and pulled her closer, my eyes drifted closed, and I began to return the kiss. I lost my awareness of the world but I gained a hyper awareness of the my actions. I could feel every detail of Lightning's soft, smooth (with the exception of where it had been split during Minerva's "trial"), and luscious lips. I detected the scent of the water, dried sweat from both of us, and something completely unique to Lightning. Her tongue very lightly grazed my upper lip and even though I was unsure how to respond, a part of my unconscious mind wanted to. I pulled away and Lightning moved with me for a moment, she stumbled slightly which made her break the kiss. We made eye contact, her eyes were only mostly open and her pupils were dilated somewhat, telling me she hadn't wanted to stop, and her hands slipped away from the back of my neck to my shoulders. The slightest arch in her eyebrow told me what she was thinking.

"I..." My pulse increased in speed and for the first time in my life, I felt my cheeks start to burn with a blush "I don't..." Now I can barely get a word out, am I actually feeling embarrassed about something? "I've..." Racing pulse, shallow breathing, and blushing. What the hell was wrong with me?

"You've never kissed someone?" Lightning's expression returned to normal, with the exception of an almost unnoticeable smirk. Her statement reminded of the many times Scarlet, for the most part, assaulted me on a regular basis but I always pushed her away because I wasn't allowed to harm one of my bosses. And that made me realize that yes, I've never kissed anyone even though I've been kissed countless times. Why in the name of Gaia did this even begin to be one of the topics on my mind?

It was after that we retreated into one of the houses near the beach and I started telling her about my childhood. I skipped over the most gruesome details and explained why I chose to be a vegan. Even when cooked, I can pick up traits from the genetic code of the creature. After about two dozen, by the standards of normal people, horrific stories we somehow came around to swapping amusing stories. Mine were about myself, Genesis, and Angeal and Lightning's were mostly about Serah. I guess at some point we both fell asleep, the last story I remember telling was fooling the vast majority of Shinra into thinking I was secretly a painter, and wound up in the current situation.

I lay there for several minutes, not wanting to wake Lightning and having no idea what to do. What does one normally do when another person is sleeping on half their body? … Look at my coat. Before this mission the only damage it ever took was from my fights with Cloud. Now but my pauldrons are gone, my right sleeve was torn off (for the sake of a bandage though), holes through the front and back from where I've been stabbed, cuts all over it from several fights, the lower half is getting tattered and the bottom hem is shredded. One of my three iconic possessions is ruined. Hopefully nothing happens to my hair or sword.

…

Why the hell am I thinking about that?!

_Maybe it's because-_

Shut up inner voice!

~~~~Genesis' POV~~~~

Day one or two of our time to rejuvenate before Sephiroth takes that ship up to Cocoon. I wish I knew how Sephiroth was timing these days, because as I said, it's either day one or two. So far I was spending the day perched on the highest rooftop of Oerba which, like Banora, was not very high but it granted my eyes a view of most of the ancient village. Minerva's gold and silver Cocoon style airship stood as a silent sentinel in the center of the village, the leaves upon the white dumbapple orchard gentled waltzed in the light breeze coming off the water, and my companions explored the vacant ancient village. Now that I consider my companions, I haven't seen Lightning or Sephiroth since yesterday, since the roseate soldier took the dive and embraced the argent General with a kiss. No matter. They are the most formidable warriors of this group, excluding myself, the wild huntress though is a close second to Lightning.

I pulled my dear book from its place inside my coat and let it fall open to the page of my beloved literature but before I began reading it over, I let my gaze travel over the village once more. On the roof of a building stretching out into the lake, among the flowerbeds, sat the carefree and eternally cheerful native of this village. From an angle different from my current one, it would make a beautiful portrait but something about Vanille's posture was off. Knowing Fang was with the others at the house the group decided to claim as our temporary base, I decided to investigate. So I returned my precious book to it's pocket and slipped off the roof, my wing erupting from my back and carrying me over near Vanille. I retracted my midnight wing and landed without a sound, holding my sheath so my sword didn't contact the ground. I heard the optimist sniffling and quietly sobbing. Stepping up behind her and crouching down, I delicately touched her shoulder to get her attention and she quickly spun and hugged me, throwing me off balance as I was squatting on my toes. I tumbled but caught myself and kept Vanille from landing in my lap, not sure how Fang would've reacted to that.

"Oh, Genesis." Vanille sounded quite embarrassed.

"Expecting Fang, perhaps?" I returned in a soft tone. Vanille nodded her response "What has you so upset?" She looked like she did not want to share "It's the village isn't it? The fact that we are the only souls here can be a harsh fact to be hit with. But it could have been worse."

"How?" She sounded offended by what I said.

"Shinra carpet bombed Banora. All that remains of my home is scorched ground."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for. It's in the past and a literal world away." I would have said more but everything I want to say is rendered moot by the fast approaching Armageddon "I won't try to cheer you up, Vanille, all I can say is life is cruel. Even more so by letting you wake up in time to see the end of the world. All we can do now is try to enjoy what life we have left," We both stood up as I spoke.

"What?" She's confused. Yeah, my words kind of confused me as well.

"Get mad, smash something, go for a swim, burn down a building or two. We all have just a few days left, so may as well-" She grabbed my shirt and pulled me into a kiss. My first instinct was to push her away but just as my hands landed on her shoulders I reconsidered. It is the end of the world after all...

~~~~Fang's POV~~~~

Since that battle with those fake people yesterday, and seeing what has happened to Oerba, I feel like crying. I mean, it's all still here but where is everyone? What happened to them? But I kept it all inside since we got enough problems with Pretty Boy's mom breathing down our necks. At least we got a break right now.

I'm sittin' on the couch of my and Vanille's old house, Kid, Puppy, Muscle Head, and Angeal are playing some kind of card game, and Oldie is workin' on fixin' Bhakti and Miss Innocent is trying to help. That little toy... robot... thing that Vanille got a long time ago. Speakin' of Van, she went out a while ago to find some parts for Oldie, wonder where she went.

"Awe, you've gotta be kidding me!" Puppy shouted. He let his head hit the table with a nice thunk.

"Never were good at poker were you?" Muscle Head laughed.

"Probably not, Zack has a terrible poker face," Kid joined Muscle Head in making fun of Puppy.

"Just never play with Sephiroth," Angeal saying that got my attention.

"Sephiroth plays poker?" Muscle Head sounded just as doubtful as I felt. Angeal just laughed.

"No, he's a card shark. Doesn't matter what you play, he'll win," Angeal said with a slight laugh as he shuffled the cards.

"That why you guys never played poker? Even when I tried to start a game?" Puppy asked.

"That's why we never played any games. Cards or otherwise," Angeal answered. We were all interested in this "Because once you started a group game, it was impossible to keep Sephiroth out of it. And inevitably winning. Oh, and Gaia help you if he found you playing chess," the sarcastic way Angeal said that last bit got us all laughing "He caught me and Genesis playing once and we never played in a public area again."

"Why?" Kid said with a laugh.

"He stood over the game and would just mutter things like "nope" and "that's wrong" it drove us both to the point of locking doors and hiding in the building to get a game in," we all kept laughing.

"Man, that kind of thing would make me crazy," Oldie commented.

"Oh I'm sure Genesis and I lost some braincells to the stress of trying to hide from Sephiroth," Angeal said with a chuckle "Anyways, I'm gonna go figure out where Sephiroth went off to yesterday."

"I'll go with ya. Wonderin' where Van went," I stretched as I stood the get that cramp out of my leg.

We didn't talk that much for a while, just walked around Oerba trying to figure out where the other four were. But then we passed the old schoolhouse and I told Angeal about the garden on the roof and how Vanille loved it. So we decided to check up there. The door was locked, or rusted shut, to Angeal shoulder bashed through it. I heard some kind of panicked noise from Vanille and Angeal say Genny's name, so I pushed past him. Genny was standing there, hands on his hips, stripped to the waist, and Vanille was on the couch (surprised that's still there) with Genny's coat over her. It took a second but I figured it out, thanks to Vanille's shirt on the floor, and went for his throat. Angeal stopped me.

"Let me go! I'm gonna kill this bastard!" I wanted to rip Genny's throat out with my teeth.

"Fang, I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation to this," Angeal was tryin' to calm me down.

"He was doin' things to my sister!" Damn Angeal and his super strength!

"If you would be kind enough to allow me to present my defense," Genny said in his friendly poetic way "Vanille started it."

"What!?" I was starting to see red "She wouldn't do that!" I just barely saw Vanille nodding "What? Why?" I still wanted to rip Genny's head off but I'll listen to Vanille first.

"The world is going to end in a couple days." Vanille said quietly.

"_Legend shall speak of sacrifice at world's end_. So we may as well take advantage of the time we have left."

"And that makes it okay for you to violate Vanille!?" Dear Etro, just let me go Angeal.

"We're gonna go find Sephiroth. Sazh is almost done fixing Bhakti so get dressed and go back there. Okay, Genesis?" Funny how casual Angeal can be with me struggling against him.

"Certainly, Angeal."

After that, Angeal actually picked me up and took me outside. And after a long lecture on something, wasn't listening because of how much I wanted to maim Genny, we started looking for Sunshine and Pretty Boy.

"Fang, if I may, I noticed that a while back, back in Palumpolum, you were basically throwing yourself at Sephiroth. What changed that?" Angeal's question took my mind of Genny.

"His story," I was being honest "Mostly that part about the village he burned."

"Nibelheim," Angeal reminded me "Yeah, I can see how that would change your opinion of him. You just need to remember though, Jenova made him commit those atrocities. He may be emotionally stunted but he does have a good heart."

"I know," Was all I said back. We searched for Pretty Boy and Sunshine for a couple more hours but didn't find them so we went back to the house. Pretty boy and Sunshine beat us there. And Sazh actually did get Bhakti working again.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

When Fang and Angeal arrived, I immediately noticed some manner of tension between Fang and Genesis. I briefly wondered what could have caused that but I just wrote it off to Genesis' sometimes abrasive behavior. Vanille seemed over the moon about the little boxy robot that Sazh had repaired. She started showing pictures, projected from the robot onto the wall and I just let my mind wander off.

For the umpteenth time today I tired to think of some plan to prevent the end of the world but satisfy Minerva. Every outcome though, was the end of the world. Either I die, Jenova wins and the world ends, or I destroy Cocoon and the world ends. For the sake of argument though, I kept looking for that "hidden option" Angeal and Lightning believe in. Seeing as how this was just going to stress me out, again, I pulled myself out of those thoughts, turning my attention back to Vanille's slide show.

"-loved going to the beach with them," Vanille said cheerfully. Guess I ignored the first bit.

The picture she was talking about was one of a younger Fang and Vanille, maybe around ten or eleven, and two slightly older brown haired girls that were looking away from the camera. They all seemed to be enjoying their time on the beach. A few more pictures of young Fang and Vanille came and went and I let my attention drift away again. Not sure how long I was zoned out for but I looked back in time to see a picture of Fang and Vanille (about fourteen fifteen) standing facing the camera with the two brunettes behind them. The two brunettes were identical twins, the exception being their eyes. One had brown eyes, the other had blue. They both had that arrogant stance and smile Fang usually had, very similar outfits to Fang, and looked vaguely familiar to me.

"Lucy was made a l'Cie and Ifa went with her to complete her focus. We never saw them again," Fang said.

"What were they names?" Aerith asked. I was mostly focused on trying to figure who the twins reminded me of.

"Oerba Crescent Ifalna and Lucrecia," Fang said with pride. My heart and my breath stopped for a moment.

"Doctor Crescent?" Genesis asked.

"Mom?" Aerith said.

"Mother..." I heard myself say.

Aerith and I made eye contact, both not being able to believe what the other had said.

"What?" Just about everyone said loudly in unison.

"You're sure?" Vanille asked mostly to Aerith. Aerith nodded.

"She told me about you two and her sister," Aerith said quietly. Then they were all looking at me.

"Lucrecia was my birth mother. Hojo got her pregnant and stole me from her the moment I was born," I told them.

"She is crystallized in a cave in the Nibel area," Genesis told us "Vincent Valentine visits her regularly."

"Her focus was..." Fang sounded far more than surprised.

"Me," I answered plain and simple.

"But how-" I knew Vanille was going to ask how they got to Gaia, how they somehow made it five hundred years into their future to accomplish Lucrecia's Focus of birthing me. I wanted to know as well.

"Minerva," Genesis answered, cutting off Vanille "Minerva held them in the lifestream until the conditions for Sephiroth's birth could be met," I couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"My life really was decided long before I was born," I was amused, then a rather glaring fact chose then to hit me in the gut "Aerith's my cousin. I killed my own family."

The room went dead silent. Well, it was already silent but I effectively killed what noise there was by saying that. I dropped my gaze to the floor and I heard someone cross the room to me. They grabbed my hand and I saw that it was Aerith, surprisingly.

"It wasn't you. Jenova was controlling you," Aerith said with that sickeningly innocent smile of hers "And besides, I got better."

Her sarcastic remark at the end got a few of the group laughing lightly.

So...

Me and Lightning have fallen for each other, my mother Lucrecia is originally from Oerba and knew Fang, and Aerith is my cousin (which I killed at one point). I swear, another twist of fate like this and my head is going to explode. Although with how insane things are getting, and how my luck works, Cloud is going to be related to Lightning somehow.

**Yes, it's late. Yes, I was lazy. Yes, I rewrote some parts of it a dozen times. Yes, I'm not happy with it. No, I haven't read it over for mistakes. But enough about me, only 3 chapters remaining, I'm determined to make this story stay below 40 chapters. Good thing I've had the last few chapters planned out since I first started this story oh so long ago.**

**Anyways, how did you all like the chapter? Love it? Hate it? Want me to give this one another try? Tell me in a Review, please.**

**Piece of Trivi****a: ****According to the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega, Sephiroth's relationship with Aerith was changed numerous times during production. At some phases they were to be lovers, in others siblings before their relationship was finalized. As a sign of their implied connection, Nomura gave the two similar hairstyles.**


	38. Chapter 38

**Yeah, it's been quite a while since I updated. My excuse this time is I've been focusing all my creative power on an original idea for a novel. There was a job as well but it was mostly the novel thing which I may upload a sample of in the future (to fictionpress of course). This chapter is kind of short, considering how long I made you wait but I think you'll enjoy it.**

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

I slept strangely well that night. With the exception of my recurring nightmare that always left me unable to sleep. Can I call it a nightmare? It doesn't scare me, makes me wake up in a cold sweat, or have me in tears, but it does remove my ability to sleep the rest of the night. Whatever. So after it woke me up, I was left to stare at the blank ceiling for the next three hours. I find it amazing that I know how long until dawn even though I don't have a watch or clock. After about ten minutes of laying there, thinking about my 'nightmare' which is just memories of what I've done, I was hit with a very strange feeling. I felt oddly lonesome. I've never actually felt alone besides now. Strange.

Once the sun started to rise, I got up and left the house. The morning here was chilly, there was a layer of of dew on just about every surface. That ship from Minerva still stood silently, waiting for us to use it. I considered taking it right now, so the others would be safely away from Jenova but I said I would wait three days.

I spent about another hour patrolling around the town that I found to be very slightly similar to Banora and just let my mind wander. It went straight to the knowledge I gained yesterday, as expected. Still bewildering to know that my mother, my actual mother, grew up here in Oerba alongside Fang and Vanille, and Aerith's mother of course. Funny to know I have some kind of family and heritage. I actually chuckled at that thought but then froze.

I have an actual family and heritage.

I need to talk to Fang or Vanille.

~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~

I stretched when I woke up and my shoulder gave a nice painful pop but the pain went away quickly. No one else was in Fang and Vanille's house, so I must have slept in quite a bit, and I felt strangely alone. Not because the house empty but... Well I'm not sure, really. I just feel alone. Shaking off that thought, I grabbed my coat, attached my gunblade case, and headed outside.

Hope was sitting on the bottom step with Genesis, Angeal looked to be training Snow (good luck with that Angeal), Vanille was off to one side with Aerith and was doing something to Aerith's hair, Sazh and Zack looked to be having a good conversation judging by their laughter, and Fang and Sephiroth are out of sight. Hope and Genesis made room for me to pass when I got the bottom of the steps, they were talking about something, but I wasn't paying attention to what. I was able to see that Vanille was redoing Aerith's braid now.

We all just kind of sat around and talked the day away. At some point Vanille asked about that book that Genesis had with him and right after Angeal shook his head and Zack groaned. Genesis then spent a couple hours talking about Loveless and the poems history. Apparently it was named after the writer that passed away before they could write act five and finish the ballad, as Genesis kept calling it, or even name it. From how he explained it, Loveless sounded like it was a story about a great war between nations or something told from the point of view of a civilian that rises up and pretty much tries to end the world to stop the war. Since the fifth act was never written, he didn't know how it ended, although he apparently tried writing a fifth act. He also made the comment that he only quotes his favorite lines from the poem. I found it hard to believe that he could enjoy a novel length poem.

Then he told us about the Loveless play and that took up another hour. I happened to glance over and see that Angeal was politely listening while Zack looked like he was considering knocking himself out. I shared his opinion. Everyone else looked like they were enjoying the story, especially Vanille.

Genesis looked past us and his eyebrows moved into a questioning look. We all turned to see Fang and Sephiroth walking up to us. Except now Sephiroth had removed the left sleeve of his coat, he had a fancy looking belt decorated with beads and pendants around his waist (outside his coat), and a white and purple sash attached to one of the belts under his coat. Took me a second to notice that he now had some kind of tattoo on his right shoulder. Looked like a skull done with "tribal" patterns.

"What the hell?" Zack was the first one to say anything.

"My heritage is that of Oerba, so I thought I would embrace it," Sephiroth told us.

"And the tattoo?" Angeal asked.

"Customary to get a mark of your first kill, the skull is the mark of an enemy," Sephiroth told us.

"I take it Fang spent most of the day working on it. And in that case, well done Yun Fang, you have a great talent," Genesis said.

"How does it feel knowing that you have an actual family?" Angeal asked.

"It is wonderful to know that Jenova isn't my only family. But Fang dislikes it when I refer to her as my aunt," Sephiroth actually smirked at his joke. Wait... Sephiroth made a joke?

"Since when do you make jokes? Did we slip into a parallel world?" Genesis asked Angeal with a laugh. Sephiroth just glared at him.

"I've decided that it's time for the attack," Sephiroth said loudly "Who's coming with me?" I stepped forward.

"I am. For Serah, and everyone that died in the Purge."

"For Serah," Snow said after me.

"For my mom," Hope added.

"For Dajh," Sazh almost whispered.

"For Oerba!" Both Fang and Vanille called out.

"For everyone back home," Aerith said with a smile.

"What she said," Zack said with his big goofy grin.

"For our salvation," Genesis said.

"I can't support or condone this choice," Angeal told us, we all just turned to him.

"What?" Zack asked.

"This course of action goes against everything I've ever believed or taught. You are all willing to end the world and the lives of countless people."

"Jenova has to be stopped, Angeal. Nothing else works," Aerith argued.

"And what makes us so sure this will work? Minerva's word?" Angeal just stood there with his arms crossed.

"Exactly. Lady Minerva is the voice of the lifestream," Genesis pointed out "The lifestream is being corrupted and consumed by Jenova. If bringing down Cocoon is the only way to prevent that, we must take this chance. And don't forget, this choice makes even the planet weep for what will be lost in the coming cataclysm."

Angeal sigh in defeat "Like I said, I don't support this choice, but if it's the only way to actually stop Jenova, I'll assist."

Without another word, we all got on the ship that was left for us, which closed up and took of us as soon as we were all on board.

~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~

Minerva's ship glided through a portal similar to the one that took us down to Pulse and a moment later, we were over a seaside city that was clearly abandoned. The ship turned to begin it's descent to land and that's when we all saw the Lindblum. Minerva's airship altered its course and proceeded towards the Lindblum then entered the hangar. Just before we got out of the ship, Genesis spoke.

"I guess now's a good time to say that Minerva used me to restore life to Cid Raines before I joined you."

"Why didn't you say that earlier?" Snow all but shouted at Genesis. The rest of the people from this world were giving similar looks of bewilderment.

"It wasn't relevant at the time," Genesis said with a light shrug and the door opened.

"Good to see you're all still alive," Rygdea, I believe his name was, said to us as we left Minerva's ship, which dissolved into the little greenish blue lights of the lifestream.

"Nice to see ya too," Fang reply.

"Come on, Raines wants to talk to you."

We were led up to some manner of board room and upon entering I saw Raines, Hope's father, a large man (not fat just widely built), and a four person group that looked like they had no reason to be on a military ship.

"Dad!" Hope called out.

"Lieutenant Amodar?" Lightning asked loudly, clearly confused.

"Guys!" Snow shouted cheerfully.

While there was something of a pleasant reunion happening for some, us from Gaia, Gran Pulse, and Sazh just kind of stood near the door waiting to be noticed. But I've never really been one to enjoy being kept waiting and we need a plan of attack for Eden.

"Raines!" I commanded "Show me an up to date map of Eden."

* * *

The night in Eden was filled with lights and cheering as the festival for the closing race in the Cocoon Grand Prix was still in its prime. The race itself would only take a handful of minutes after midnight but the festival started a day prior and would continue for several more. Numerous vendor stalls, rides for children, and common carnival attractions had been erected in Eden's central plaza, a popular band was currently performing as well, screaming fans adding to the cloud of incomprehensible noise being generated. Everyone was too busy enjoying the semi-annual festival that it took longer than it should have for the Lindblum to be noticed.

The Cavalry flagship rose over the side of the city and calmly made its way inside Eden's shield then opened its doors. Just as dozens of fighters and gunships began to pour out of the titanic airship, dozens of other fighters and gunships, which belong to PSICOM, raced towards the Lindblum along with several militarized wyverns.

Down on the racecourse, which now had almost thirty racers rocketing over it, an impossibly agile car and motorcycle joined the hoverbikes built for racing, with another custom hoverbike closely following the motorcycle. More than a couple of racers wound up almost crashing from the surprising sight. Countless Eden Guardian Corps machines flew past them, in pursuit of the car and motorcycle that were trespassing on the course. The racers merely threw each other questioning glances before putting their own vehicles in high gear.

Nearly ten miles away, at the finish line in the central plaza of Eden, the noise began to die down as the crowd collectively noticed something akin to meteor hurtling down towards them, seemingly from the hole in Cocoon. It slammed into the racetrack's finish line, fracturing the ground and splashing flames in a large circle and just as the crowd got brave enough to investigate, the meteor uncurled and stood up. In truth, the meteor was a twenty foot red and black steel giant with a large metal wing on the left side of its back, shining blue eyes, and a massive red bladed sword. Accompanying the giant was a large and wide gold and white golem looking being with a boy on it's shoulder, and a two legged red and dark green machine with two very large guns and young woman on its back.

All at once, the night exploded into chaos.

Screams from the crowd around the fiery steel giant, the mysterious car and motorcycle destroying the Guardian Corps machines with fire and ice, the sky getting filled with explosions as the air forces met, and several large explosions in two other areas of the city. Moments later, Cocoon's artificial sun, Phoenix, brought high noon twelve hours early. With so much happening at once, PSICOM failed to notice three figures racing up a road towards Edenhall.

A large white with gold mechanical horse with a pink haired woman wielding two very large hooked blades on its back. Beside them was a black mechanical winged horse and on its back sat a silver haired man with a tattered black coat and a sword with a six foot blade. Behind the two horses was a mechanical looking chimera. It's bottom half was a wolf with three tentacle like tails with spearheads and a very large mouth where the wolf head would be, above the mouth was the upper half of a man with his arms crossed over his chest and much larger arms coming off his shoulders holding a shield and a huge trident, an impractical wing came off the chimera's right shoulder, and the man's long black hair plumed out behind him.

As they raced up the road, a dark colored seemingly robotic dragon and a light colored robotic eagle soared overhead. Just behind them, a dark colored version of the Ushumgal Subjugator was in hot pursuit and attempting to shoot them down. Both horse riders watched the scene pass by but made no move to help. They knew the dragon and the bird were far more agile than the military airship could hope to be. A sudden outcry made the silver haired rider look over to the pink haired rider, he saw that the pinkette was bleeding from a wound on her back and without hesitation, crouched on his horse's back and leaped.

The world went into slow motion as he twisted through the air, lifted the sword over his head, and brought it down with all the force he could muster. His incredibly long blade crashed into two parallel blades just as he landed on the front end of a custom hoverbike and his gaze locked with near identical bright green eyes. The eyes alone told him who was pursuing them. The hoverbike lifted and rolled, making the non-rider lose his footing but the instant before he fell, he pushed off and promptly landed on the back of the chimera and leaped back to his horse. With a glance he saw that the pinkette had used her l'Cie power to heal herself. The chimeric being behind the riders lashed at the hoverbike riders with its spearhead tails but was only able to slash the air and ground.

Before an actual fight could erupt, the three pursuers broke off and went elsewhere. Just as the riders and chimera started to wonder where their pursuers went, a black version of the robot the pinkette encountered back in The Hanging Edge, and later in Lake Bresha, swooped down in front of them. Without hesitation, the pinkette and silver haired man charged forward on their mounts and slashed the machine. The pinkette's vicious blades dug into the plating but the silver haired man's blade barely scratched the paint. The chimera ran up between the riders and drove its large trident into the machine's eye, the middle point crushed the lens but the other two points of the trident were halted by the plating preventing any further damage to the machine. All five beings had to quickly dodge back from the machine to avoid the giant saws on its arm, then they were prepared for an actual fight.

Back in the plaza, the two giants and the machine with two giant guns had their hands full with almost a full battalion of PSICOM. The red giant taking point was trying its best to draw as much gunfire while the gold giant was doing its best to keep the red giant on its feet. The machine with giant guns was keeping the amount of tanks, gunships, and militarized behemoths attacking them from climbing too high. They were doing well up until the civilians had been cleared from the plaza but after that it started going downhill. It was simply too difficult to keep up with the amount of guns flooding into the plaza. Outnumbered, outgunned, and out in the open, the red giant did the one thing it knew would even the odds.

Darkness appeared on the ground as if it were bubbling up from the ground like water. It grew taller until it was oval in shape and rising ten feet up. White and red streaks flew out of the darkness and swept through the PSICOM forces, soldiers dropping dead left and right. A few moments later a blue haired man, that was so huge he dwarfed Snow, strode out of the darkness wielding a large cannon that looked like it belong on a tank. The red giant now felt his power fading, he felt his form dispersing and within seconds his giant steel body was returned to its original form of a red coat wearing man.

Up in the sky, on the back of the dragon were two women. A blue clad spear wielding huntress, and a pink clothed mage, held onto the dragon for dear life as it rolled and weaved between the skyscrapers of Eden. Just behind them was a robotic looking bird constantly using all manner of supportive and protective spells. Behind the bird, with a sizable gap between them, the dark colored Subjugator was in hot pursuit. Anytime it had a clear shot, it tried shooting the dragon and bird down. The dragon took down any PSICOM ship that got in it's way but it was mostly focusing on keeping its riders, one of them its master, safe from the torrent of bullets from the pursuing gunship. A loud whoosh grabbed the attention of the two riders. Turning to see behind them, they saw a different PSICOM ship had joined the pursuit and it had launched several missiles at them. The bird slowed and spread its wings out, voluntarily taking the full force of the missiles. The master of the dragon commanded it to go above the buildings, which it did without hesitation, then after spotting Eden Hall, the dragon sped off towards, with the Subjugator still hot on its tail. The riders looked back and saw the Subjugator preparing to attack them and both knew it most likely would not miss. A blue Subjugator peppered the dark one with bullets, making the PSICOM airship change targets and hurry off after the blue Subjugator, a Cavalry airship.

Before the dragon could actually make it to Eden Hall, a shield flared to life and the dragon had a split second to change its flight path to avoid smashing into the shield. The dragon chose a plaza one city block away from the original landing zone and let the riders off before transforming into a humanoid shape and standing with them. A few nerve shattering minutes later, a strange car with a driver and a black haired man standing on top of it, along with a strange motorcycle with a blond driver pulled up to the three in the plaza. Before anyone could speak two horses, a black one with a rider and a white one with two riders, ran up to the group.

"This wasn't the plan," Sephiroth stated as he dismounted Zalera, which vanished into a flurry of black feathers.

"There's a shield," Aerith reply.

"Jenova is expecting us," Angeal stated, giving voice to what everyone had thinking since first arriving on the Lindblum.

"Wait. Where's Vanille?" Fang asked loudly.

Shattering glass and a crumbling wall grabbed their attention. From a large hole that was a window a blue haired mountain of a man fell and landed on his feet. In one hand he held a redhead girl and in the other was a man with a red coat. From the same hole in the building came a platinum blond boy, a woman with red hair, and a man with white hair.

"And I thought you were big," Sazh joked to Snow.

"Put Vanille down!" Fang shouted, readying her spear. The giant set Vanille and Genesis on their feet.

"Calm down," Genesis said with a smile, everyone could see how fatigued he was.

"Genesis, are these-"

"Three of the Tsviets, yes," Genesis answered, cutting off Angeal "Soulless husks, really. Though much better that way, far more obedient."

"You are starting to scare me," Zack commented.

"Worry not," Genesis assured as the darkness wrapped around the Tsviets and made them vanish "Summoning them was a last resort and almost made me fall unconscious. So, shall we head into the dragon's maw?"

The group of eleven walked into the plaza in front of Eden Hall, weapons ready. They were greeted by the sight of Jenova standing with her arms crossed at the top of short flight of stairs and a wall of PSICOM troops to either side of her, every gun trained on the l'Cie, as well as several militarized creatures. In front of her were Yaag, Yazoo, Loz, and Kadaj. In front of them, Cid Raines, Rygdea, Bartholomew Estheim, Lieutenant Amodar, and team NORA.

"What?" Snow gasped "How the hell-"

A crack of thunder a large explosion threw all the l'Cie off their feet. Recovering as fast as they could, they all saw Sephiroth walking towards Jenova. He held his arms out to the sides in a welcoming manner, Masamune still in his hand. Then he spoke, loud and proud for all to hear.

"I am ready for Reunion, Mother."

**Please leave a Review.**

**Oh yeah, I do think LOVELESS is supposed to be a novel length poem kind of like The Divine Comedy hence my reasoning for altering that piece of the FF7 universe. Another note, Seph's "Oerba" look is supposed to be a modified version of his Dissidia look.**


	39. Chapter 39

**Here's the next chapter, sorry for the delay but Lightning Returns brought my writing to screeching halt for a while. I'm planning on there only being 2 more chapters, so I hope you enjoy.**

~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~

"I am ready for Reunion, Mother."

No, this isn't happening. After everything that we've been through, Sephiroth can't be joining Jenova. Why is he doing this?

"You bastard!" Zack yelled. I watched him spring to his feet and run at Sephiroth without his sword. I wanted to yell at him to stop but I just couldn't get the words to come out.

Sephiroth turned and slashed at Zack but he ducked under Sephiroth's sword. Zack punched Sephiroth in the stomach and Sephiroth grabbed Zack's throat. Zack was lifted right off the ground and thrown back at us. Sephiroth turned back to Jenova.

"Not even worth the effort," Sephiroth said "But soon, you will live as a part of me."

I saw Sephiroth's remnants by Jenova turn into that black mist and that mist went into Sephiroth. He turned back to Jenova, who smiled at him. Or us, hard to tell. Then the l'Cie brand on Sephiroth's back appeared above his coat. It was shining bright red.

"What's going on?" I asked everyone.

"He's turning into a Cie'th." Fang said. I swear she sounds happy about that.

There was a flash and the glowing brand was gone but Sephiroth's wing was there. We could all see the black mist slowly covering his arms and shoulders. Then it changed into sleeves and his shoulder armor. His coat was completely fixed now.

"I missed you, Sephiroth," Jenova sounded happy "Now kill those l'Cie," Jenova pointed at us and I started to feel better.

We all stood up and realized Jenova just completely healed us. Lightning, Fang, Angeal, Snow, Zack, and Genesis made a line in front of me, Vanille, Hope, and Sazh. Is this really happening? No, it can't be. Sephiroth changed, he was actually becoming happy. This is just a dream. A terrible, terrible nightmare.

"Snow, get back!" Lightning ordered him "Do you really think you will be able to punch him?" Snow joined me behind the others and Sephiroth smiled. Probably laughed too.

"Do any of you really believe you can beat me?" Sephiroth's voice had that creepy chill to it that it had when I was with Cloud and Tifa "Only one person has ever been able to beat me, and he's a literal world away."

"Sephiroth, please don't make this mistake," Angeal said.

"Jenova wishes to consume the lifestream. She is using you to further her own goal, Sephiroth," Genesis said. Jenova was still just smiling.

"If I have no choice but to be a pawn, I may as well be a part of the winning team," Sephiroth said back. He pointed his sword at us.

"Don't make us do this," Angeal said, touching it with his forehead.

"We loved you as a brother," Genesis took out his sword.

"I told you I would finish what we started," Zack had his sword out.

"We all trusted you," Fang also pulled out her spear "And you used us!"

"Are you really surprised?" Sephiroth asked us "I told you my story. How I was designed by a madman, made from Jenova's cells, born from a suicidal woman, trained to not feel, carefully crafted into the perfect killing machine. I told you how exactly how I slaughtered the village of Nibelheim and how I enjoyed it. I have ice flowing through my heart that is as black as my soul and yet you are surprised that I manipulated you?" Sephiroth laughed. Loudly.

"Dammit, Sephiroth. This isn't you," I heard Angeal mutter.

"I know that's not true," Lightning said loudly, Sephiroth stopped laughing and looked right at her. He wasn't even smiling "I know you have a heroic heart in you."

"Really?" One side of Sephiroth's mouth curled into a smile at that.

Then he slashed the air and a huge wave flew at us. Genesis, Angeal, Zack, Lightning, and Fang blocked it but it pushed them back a bit. Zack ran forward as soon as he could, Lightning and Fang followed, then Angeal and Genesis ran up. Me, Vanille, Sazh, Hope, and Snow all looked at each other for a bit. Vanille took a deep breath, wiped her eyes, then pulled out that fishing rod she's been using the whole time. We all started to charge spells even though we didn't want to.

Why did you do this, Sephiroth? We were so close…

~~~~Genesis' POV~~~~

We arranged ourselves around Sephiroth so if an attack caught only air, we wouldn't contact an ally. Well, to speak honestly, Sephiroth arranged us. He controls the battlefield. Try as we might, there is nothing we can do to prevent Sephiroth's combat manipulation. He knows Angeal and I far too well to be caught off guard by our attacks. Zack's style is derived from Angeal's, Fang's technique isn't fast enough and far too predictable, and Lightning? She is fast, precise, and relentless, which is her weakness. The fact that all five of us are still uninjured just proves the fact that Sephiroth is toying with us, a cat playing with its prey before swiftly delivering the deathblow.

The tip of Masamune passed before my eyes, the silver blade humming with power, hungry for flesh and bone, thirsty for blood. If I had been even a breath closer, the tip of that vicious blade would have taken my eyes. I forced myself away from battle and took a survey. The PSICOM troops were still forming that semi-half-circle, Jenova still proudly standing and watching our struggle. I wished I could drive my sword through her black heart but that is both useless and stupid. One would have a better chance of killing smoke by glaring at it but that didn't stop me from craving the sight of the life leaving Jenova's cruel gaze. Simple knowledge stayed my hand. Sephiroth can easily take on Angeal and myself as well as Zack and two of the l'Cie, Jenova on the other hand, merely needs to blink to wipe a city off the map. To fell a beast, one must have a well laid out plan with plenty of room to compensate for the actions of the beast.

To prioritize: Step one, defeat Sephiroth. Step two, get the hostages away from Jenova. Step three, kill the wench. Wonderful… Three impossible tasks in a row. I knew I should have contacted Cloud before coming here to Cocoon…

Wait… Back up a few thoughts, Genesis. Sephiroth is playing with us. He would have killed us the moment Jenova told him too if he really wanted to. Is he doubting himself? No… Lightning got to him. He can't kill her. Yet, anyways. No, he wants to break her spirit before ending her life. Sadistic bastard.

The air shifted. So very subtle, but it was there. A familiar shift, almost like-

"Aerith!" I cried out. Looking over just in time allowed me to see Sephiroth appear behind the casting group but Aerith seems to have heeded my warning. There was a shield between her group and Sephiroth, Snow was quick to assist.

Sephiroth looked over at me then. In the blink of an eye, his sword was crashing into mine, sparks flying. Time slowed and I felt pain rising up my arms, I looked and saw small cuts ascending my arms. I kicked back away from Sephiroth and out of his cloud of ghostly blades. He then charged at Fang and sent the ghostly blades at her, I could see the dozens of small cuts appear all over any exposed flesh. Zack was his next target, they fought hard for a couple of seconds, before Zack was thrown at me. I moved to dodge but the hilt of Zack's sword caught me directly in the temple. I hit the ground hard as well. I fought to stay conscious but the darkness took me eventually.

An unknown time later, my vision came back and I saw Lightning facing Sephiroth. The warrior woman was covered in blood from cuts that were meant to sting harshly. Her opponent however, was still untouched. I glanced about and saw everyone using what healing they could, trying to get back in the fight. I was in no condition to fight, I was feeling nauseous from the concussion I had received, to say the least. Lightning charged Sephiroth and her sword was easily knocked out of her hand. She defiantly stood strong and refused to show Sephiroth any fear.

"Why work so hard to gain our trust if you were just going to betray us?" a tear rolled down her cheek. Sephiroth moved and grabbed Lightning's throat, easily lifting her a foot off the ground.

"That look of betrayal. It is such a sweet thing to behold and it will be glorious to see it be the final spark in your eyes, Lightning." Sephiroth smiled "I will personally kill every last one of your weak species."

"You're a monster," Lightning choked out.

"A monster I may be, but I am a perfect specimen." Sephiroth replied, his smile fading. Jenova laughed at us, reveling in her victory.

Jenova's laugh was cut off by a pained gasp. Lightning tumbled to the ground and it took me a moment to realize Sephiroth wasn't there. We looked over and saw Sephiroth in front of Jenova, his sword through her abdomen.

"And given the choice, I would much rather be a flawed human!" The black materia in the Masamune charged and Sephiroth pushed the blade up through Jenova's shoulder. She gave a loud cry of pain and her right arm started to glow a pale blue. There was a thud in the air and Sephiroth landed in front of us, the ground fracturing underneath him.

"You dare to attack me after I restore your power?" Jenova's glare turned to her iconic glowing red. The slash from naval to right shoulder was pouring that black smoke and her right arm started to glow a pale blue "You are as brave as you are stupid, Sephiroth. You know me better than any other and yet you thought it would be that easy to kill me." The PSICOM troops and creatures started to convulse "You warn the others about my world crushing power then try to wound me with a sword?" Jenova laughed again then turned towards Eden Hall "You've just killed Cocoon, Sephiroth." Jenova vanished into the black smoke. Yaag followed suit a moment later.

The PSICOM troops and creatures simultaneously morphed into Cie'th and looked towards Jenova's former captives.

"Run!" Hope shouted.

Sephiroth was back on his feet and charging the Cie'th in a second. He teleported around the area, smashing, slashing, throwing, and obliterating the Cie'th. The former captives ran over to us and it took the better part of five minutes for all the Cie'th to be killed. Sephiroth stood in front of us, Masamune gone from sight. Zack, Fang, Lightning, and I had our weapons pointed at him.

"I sincerely apologize for hurting all of you. But it was necessary for my power to be restored and for Jenova to drop her guard," Sephiroth explained "I was honestly expecting to fight her out here and end this. I should have known she'd flee closer to Orphan."

"You really want us to believe this?" Snow said through a growl. It was able to to trigger a very subtle shiver in my spine. The man knows how to be intimidating.

"I needed all of your reactions to be genuine. Jenova would have seen through any sort of plan in an instant." Sephiroth calmly explained. Lightning lowered her weapon and walked towards Eden Hall.

"Come on," she commanded "We have a world to save."

Just as Lightning reached the main door to Eden Hall, is was coated in thick ice. We all heard a cry of pain from the rear of our party and turned to aid. The sight of Sazh being pierced by two swords met our sight, Jenova holding the blades.

"Sazh!" Just about everyone shouted.

"Like I would just let you all walk in," Jenova chuckled and kept her blades firmly through Sazh's gut and left lung; it would keep him in place and in extraordinary pain "I knew you had no intention of rejoining me, Sephiroth. You're too attached to those humans. Especially miss Farron."

"Then why give my remnants and power back?" Jenova laughed in response to Sephiroth. He collapsed to his knees and clutched his head as he howled in pain.

"By granting you your power, my presence shattered that brand Minerva gave you. Now instead of being her soldier, you'll be my slave. You are nothing but an empty puppet," Sephiroth fixated his most deadly glare on Jenova "Now give me the Black Materia."

Sephiroth did as he was told. He got to his feet, summoned Masamune, extracted the Black Materia and started walking it over to Jenova. We all just stood and stared. We all know Sephiroth doesn't want to do this, isn't doing this, but there is not a single thing we can do to stop it. With one of our own as a hostage, we can't make any rash decisions. Jenova is not afraid to kill a hostage, she just enjoys making them suffer. Poor Sazh, looks as if he is about to pass out, with the pain he must be in and the blood soaking his coat. Jenova pushed Sazh to the ground and pulled her blades back, they vanished as Sephiroth got close. She took the Black Materia, sprouted six black wings, and with a flap soared up above us.

"Thank you, my dear son. You have saved me some trouble and your friends some unneeded deaths," She waved her free hand and Sazh's wounds closed, he looked as confused as I knew we were "Now admittedly, these weapons were recently made, but I'm proud of them," darkness poured off Jenova's wings, forming eleven puddles "Have fun, dear l'Cie."

~~~~Fang's POV~~~~

The bitch laughed at us and just disappeared. Dear Etro I hate her! The arrogant bitch thinks everything is so damned funny! See how much she's laughing after I rip her tongue out!

…

That blackness she put down is growing… Oh. My. God. Jenova made us! Freakin' clones of us! But with silver hair and her red eyes. This is getting weird.

We got into our line and the enemy us did the same. Wow, no difference between the Sephiroths… Thats gonna be fun. It was quiet while we all faced down ourselves (that's a weird thing to say ain't it?) then someone's foot shifted and the fight started.

That Lighting and Sazh fired a couple shots, so did Lightning and Sazh, that Hope, Aerith, and Vanille threw a couple spells, so did Hope, Aerith, and Vanille, then the Snows, the Angeals, the Gennys, the Zacks, the Sephiroths, and me met in the middle. That Fang is a bit stronger than me. Whoa! Faster too. And she knows all my moves! This fight is gonna take a while…

Who knows how much later...

"What the hell?" Snow yelled. I looked over on instinct, big mistake. I was able to see that everyone was pretty much melee fighting.

I knocked me down and my spear tumbled away. She tried to stab me but I rolled away and she isn't gonna let me get to my feet. When I got close again, I did my best to sweep kick and it worked; I fell on my ass. I got up and went to tackle the other me but she grabbed me, planted her foot in my gut and threw me over her. We rolled and she wound up on top. She opened her mouth and moved in to bite me, I grabbed her face and jaw, just like I would any other creature that wanted to eat my face.

"What the bloody fuck!?" Didn't mean to yell that, but other me has fangs and a purple forked tongue! What the fuck did Jenova make!?

I twisted other me's head around until her neck snapped and she went limp. I tossed her away, got to my feet and grabbed my spear. Just as I turn to help Vanille, I see other me get up and twist her head back… That is just freaky… Then darkness. Now inside somewhere. What happened!?

"Ice the door!" Genny yelled. Then everyone that could hit the door with ice spells, making a wall of ice.

"Let's get moving," Pretty Boy said.

"Hold on a minute! The hell was that out there!?" Sazh was shouting.

"Jenova can copy people. She probably was able to get all of your DNA by disguising as a creature or even just a bug," Angeal answered "As for us SOLDIERs, well we have Jenova cells. We're already on file."

The room rumbled and the ice wall cracked. Genny patched it with a spell.

"Now is not the time for chatter! Those clones are still out there and I do believe they want us very dead!" Genny yelled at us, so turned around and started running into Eden Hall.

When we got further in, we saw PSICOM guys fighting Cie'th. Pretty boy said something about Jenova 'releasing control' and something about wanting to slow us down, kinda weird seeing Pretty Boy with that wing. So we helped out the PSICOM guys, because Muscle Head and Angeal wouldn't shut up about it. The longer we took, the more violent everything became. Walls getting torn apart by explosions and Cie'th, fires starting everywhere, bullets flying everywhere. One really big room with a glass roof had like a war going on. It was three floors high, big balconies and PSICOM and Cie'th are all over the place. We started helping who we could, Pretty Boy was teleporting around the room while we helped the guys on the ground floor. The roof shattered a couple minutes later and the other us dropped in, blocking our way back. Pretty Boy appeared between us and them, his wing stretched out and he held his sword out towards other us.

"Keep pressing forward!" Angeal yelled and we all turned and ran for the door.

Muscle Head picked up Vanille, Angeal tossed Oldie onto his shoulder, Puppy picked up Aerith, and Genny grabbed Hope. Pretty Boy was covering our back. A few rooms later we heard some serious fighting going on behind a door. With other us hot on our tails, we rushed through the door and found Barthandelus and Rosch. They were fighting each other. Rosch was dancing around the room and Barthandelus was in his fal'Cie form. We knew we had to help one of them but I know none of us knew who to help. Then Barthandelus attacked us. We wasted no time in beating him down and making him run away.

"I appreciate the assistance," Rosch said to us. We pointed our weapons at him.

"What's going on?" Pretty Boy asked.

"Jenova is releasing all of her disposable minions, myself included," Rosch answered calmly.

"What? Why?" Muscle Head asked.

"She's gathering her power. We have a very short time before Jenova attacks the lifest-" Rosch was cut off by something making the door rumble and crack "Keep going. I will delay the copies as long as I can," We cautiously turned away and headed for the other door "Sephiroth," we all stopped and turned around "Do us all a favor and destroy the bitch," Then we left Rosch to his chosen fate.

A lot more rooms and a legion of Cie'th later, we came into a room made of old bricks and there were three statues. I know the image of Lindzei anywhere and there are three statues right here. This must be where Orphan is. And right there in the middle of the room was that blond guy from Oerba, the one that fought Pretty Boy. Actually now that I'm looking, he and Sunshine kinda look similar. Weird.

"Cloud?" Pretty Boy asked. Cloud took the sword off his back and charged Pretty Boy.

They had an intense and stupidly fast two minute duel but Pretty Boy won. I think.

"You were right, you know," Cloud said.

"What?" Pretty Boy asked.

"Hero's either die a martyr or live to become worse than what they fought."

"How do you know I said that?"

Dark mist appeared to Cloud's left then Jenova did after a moment. To his right, there was a flash and Minerva appeared. Some dark mist came from Cloud's left hand then a large black and purple sword (if you can call that a sword) appeared and it looked like there was an eye just above the handle. Then two huge red and black demon-ish wings sprouted from his back and his eyes turned bright red and his pupils turned to slits.

"What the hell?" Snow whispered.

"Cloud, why?" Aerith asked.

"Sometimes you have to embrace darkness to create a shining future."

Angeal pulled his sword off his back and we all got ready for a very, very, very, tough battle.

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